The Edge of Lightning
by Sannikex
Summary: Six years ago Kakashi sent away one of his students after failing her, for reasons he never told anyone. Now she is suddenly back in his life and he finds for himself that old feelings die hard. After spending six years in another village Naure is no closer to forgiving her old teacher but now they must unite to fight a bigger foe than their shared past. Anime compliant, Kakashi/OC
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is a companion piece to my first Naruto-verse story, The Ultimate Defence that takes place before this but it's not necessary to read it to understand this one. I hope you will enjoy and a special welcome back to everyone who read the first one!

Kakashi entered the Kazekage's tent, spotted Gaara standing behind the table with the map of the troop movements. Next to him was little Sayuri, you seldom saw one without the other these days, except in battle where the Konoha research ninja probably would be more in the way than anything. She did better from behind her desk and just a few weeks ago she had devised the plan that took out a quarter of the clones in one strike. Coincidentally that was how she had first met Gaara.

She was a head shorter than him, with shoulder length brown hair and eyes the colour of a midnight sky - currently shining at Gaara. Anyone could see the love between the young Kazekage and the pretty Konoha ninja and he knew that with the exception of a few jealous Sand kunoichi everyone was happy for their beloved Commander. As he saw the look of love, understanding and shared laughter that passed between Sayuri and Gaara he suddenly felt like he was intruding even though all they were doing was standing in the same room, looking at each other.

"Kakashi, there you are," The Kazekage had spotted him and he nodded his greeting to both and Sayuri sent him a radiant smile. He smiled back; few could resist that 100-watt smile when it was directed at them. He couldn't help the sadness that tinged his response; Sayuri and Gaara were so young, just starting out in life, newly in love and forced into this war.

"You sent for me?" Gaara nodded and motioned for him to come closer to look at the map spread on the table.

"You see here," he pointed to where a thin tongue of forest stretched in enemy territory with open plains on both sides, "Sayuri has come up with a new idea for our offence but she can't finish the plan until she knows the conditions there, as well as how many enemies are in the territory. You are the best at moving unnoticed as well as being able to defend yourself, should anything happen. But, Kakashi, this is deep in enemy territory and-" Kakashi could see Gaara was struggling to ask him to go. It certainly was risky, but the last time Sayuri had had an idea success had followed so he nodded his assent.

"I'll go. Just tell me what you need to know." Gaara's shoulders relaxed slightly as Sayuri looked worried, biting her lip.

"Thank you, Kakashi. I'd never ask if it weren't absolutely necessary. I'm not sending you alone, though, the Mist sent for one of their best to go with you. Akiyama-san?" From behind the partition in the tent stepped a tall, blonde woman and surprised he hadn't sensed her presence in the tent he turned and froze.

"Narue?"

"Kakashi-sensei," she said coolly and he suddenly had a flashback to the last time he'd seen her.

Six Years Earlier

"What? You're sending me away?" Tears glinted in the eyes that haunted his sleep at night.

"You failed, and I'm sending you to the Hidden Mist to try at their exam," he said, his voice as expressionless as he could make it.

"This is my home, why can't I train here? Why can't you train me?" Standing in the stadium for the exams, facing her for the last time, the sun beating down from a clear blue sky he could feel his heart breaking. He could never tell her the real reason she had to disappear. He couldn't tell her that for the last year he'd been plagued by feelings for her, his student, eight years his junior and forbidden to him in more ways than he could count.

He'd always prided himself on being a sensible, logical person, not given to emotional outbreaks and above all knew himself well enough to be reasonable. But not now. For the last year he had felt as if he had a fever in his blood, walking in a haze of feelings he had wondered if he would ever experience.

He'd watched his friends and classmates fall and fall again, describing themselves in love and had thought himself abnormal. He never felt anything close to what they tried to convey when he asked about it. Sure, he found women attractive and enjoyable company when the mood struck but he had never felt that one of them was the centre of his universe, that life without them was lesser than before he met them.

Then, when he'd given up all hope of ever having that, he'd fallen, and hard, for someone he couldn't have. Guy had once jealously remarked that Kakashi probably could have any woman he wanted. Not _the_ one he wanted, Guy, he thought bitterly. Not the one who could match him in strength, who made him laugh, who was caring and intelligent and the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. She was off limits and the strong need for her was mixed with self-repulsion. He was her teacher, he was supposed to be better than this.

He had thought it would pass, he was infatuated and it would fizzle out and die. He'd spent a year struggling, trying everything he could think of to get over her. He took on more S-rank missions than before, they were the only ones that distracted him enough, he slept with more women, he practiced harder than ever. And at the end of it she was still there, lodged in his heart like a thorn of yearning and the need sharper, the longing more painful.

After a year of plaguing himself he was so wrought out emotionally that he had realized he needed to get away from her completely to get over it. He'd thought of getting another of the teachers to take her on but had no excuse; she had already surpassed most of them in any case. He couldn't send her on a long mission since she was still a chunin and wasn't allowed on a single person mission, no matter her skill level. He couldn't go anywhere himself, a senior ninja of his skill would never be accepted by any other village. In the end sending her away was the only thing he could think of. After he failed her - even though she was more than prepared to become a jonin. He'd always be ashamed of that; he'd failed her in so many ways before doing it literally.

"Narue, I've taught you all I know. The next jonin exam is in the Hidden Mist in a year. You'll go there to train and I know you'll pass next year." The ground was scarred from the battles that had taken place earlier, among them Narue's when she had amazed him yet again with her performance against a much older ninja from the Hidden Stone.

"But why can't I train here with you and then go to the Mist for the Exam?" She asked again as the tears she had been holding back started to fall. She was grimy from the battle, the tears ran clear paths down her cheeks, her long hair was tangled, the golden strands dulled by dust and her shirt torn in several places. She had never looked more beautiful to him.

"I think you'll achieve better results in the Mist where you can't be distracted by friends and family", he lied, hating himself for every word.

"I won't." The tears stopped falling, the hurt confusion in her storm-cloud eyes was replaced by anger. "I refuse to go, I'll go to the Hokage, I'll-"

"The Hokage already approved it." He'd had to work hard on the Third to make him agree but something in Kakashi's plea for her relocation had convinced him and the move was now definitive.

Narue's eyes changed once again, storm turning to ice cold as she straightened and looked him square in the eye.

"If you think that's best…sensei," she said in a voice he hardly recognized as Narue's it was so cold. Then she turned and walked out of the stadium.

Early the next morning he watched her leave, a lone figure in the swirling morning fog. It was for the best, he tried to convince himself, he was doing what was best for her. She'd acclimatize to the Hidden Mist, she'd make friends, she'd meet a nice _boy_ her own age, marry, have children and work in the Hidden Mist for the rest of her life. And in his heart she would always be a heartbreakingly beautiful sixteen-year-old girl, the memory of her the only thing he'd ever be allowed to have of her.

Present

And now here she was. The last six years had turned her from beautiful girl to stunning woman. She wore her hair longer, it fell to her waist but the colour was the same, the dark gold he remembered, her eyes still the dark grey of thunderclouds, an almost violet tinge to them as in the minutes before lightning strikes and the air is charged with the violence of it. She was a bit taller than she had been and her figure had matured, a hand-span waist matched with full hips and bust carried by long, slender legs.

"You know each other?"

POV

Narue cursed inwardly as she spotted him. He was still every bit as handsome as the last time she'd seen him. She'd hoped for some horrible disfigurement or at least some ungraceful ageing - a receding hairline or potbelly. But he stood as tall and lean as always, his features hidden by his customary mask but she knew the face of an archangel under it as well as her own. She saw it often enough in her dreams.

"Narue?", he said disbelievingly. At least he remembered her name.

"Kakashi-sensei," she answered, finding small satisfaction that no emotion could be heard in her tone. He'd never know how seeing him again had shaken her. Just like she'd never give him the satisfaction of knowing he had been her first love. Her only love, so far.

It had started as normal hero idolization of her teacher but as she grew older it had developed, deepened. It hadn't been as trivial as a teenage crush for her, it had been the kind of yearning of body and soul that made her doubt she'd ever feel it for someone else. It had burnt her out. Her friends, the few friends she had in the Hidden Mist, had all wondered why she never dated, all of them claiming she could have anyone she wanted. But there had only been one person she had ever wanted and he had made it very clear he didn't want her.

"You know each other?" The Kazekage asked. Kakashi just stood stony faced, his hands in his pockets. She shifted to meet the eyes of the Sand leader.

"I was born in Konoha. Kakashi-sensei was my teacher until I was relocated to the Hidden Mist six years ago."

"Relocated? Why?"

"Kakashi-sensei? Why don't you fill them in on that? I've always been a bit fuzzy on the details myself." Did she see pain flash in his uncovered eye for a split second? Probably imagined it, she thought, he'd always been difficult to read.

"Narue has the innate ability to draw nature chakra from the air, passed down in her father's family, matched with an affinity for air that approaches your Ultimate Sand Defense, from her mother's side. Because of the amount chakra she has is almost inexhaustible she can practice techniques longer and learn faster. She is the only one who has ever come close to learning almost as many techniques as me. Because of this I felt she had learned what she could from me and the Hokage agreed that a relocation would suit her specific training." He was facing the Kazekage now and talked about her in a monotonous voice like a recorder, listing her abilities. The Kazekage looked unconvinced but seemed to shrug it off and turned to her.

"An Ultimate Defence of Air? Do you mind showing me?" She nodded her assent, she was curious about the sand shield they called the Ultimate Defence. Gaara of the Sand pulled a shuriken out and Kakashi stepped back to clear the way. She could feel him watching from the side and for a brief moment she felt as if she were back in Konoha six years earlier, when he was her teacher, when she'd been trying so desperately hard to impress him. The young Commander was fast, she had to give him that, the shuriken had been hard to avoid in battle. As usual the shield passed down from her mother, made stronger by the amounts of chakra she had from her father's side stopped it effectively. To the naked eye it looked like the shuriken just slowed down before dropping.

She could feel the shield around her but she couldn't see it the way Kakashi could see it with his Sharingan. He'd explained it looked like a floating mass of chakra around her that grew denser whenever something that could harm her came close. She had always imagined it to look like mist swirling around her, growing impenetrable in the places under attack.

Knowing what it looked like had helped her develop her control over the air and she now knew that the simple truth of the matter was that the air did increase in density when the shield was disturbed. And after uncountable hours and concentration she could increase the air density on command, in any place within her range, effectively stopping any foe.

The Kazekage held out his hand in a summoning movement and sand rose from the gourd on his back, dancing through the air. Fascinated she mirrored his movement, felt the air shift. More for the sake of the spectators than for herself she let the air she was moving become visible by adding to the humidity in it, making it carry mist. The mist and the sand met in the middle of the room and amazed she felt the power of the sand hum through the air, reverberating back to her. From the look on the Kazekage's face she guessed he was feeling the same on his end from her air. The sensation reminded her of dragging rock against rock, a grating sensation that made you think you could almost smell burning from the friction of it. We'd both die, she thought to herself, if we unleashed full power in battle against each other. Letting out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding she let the air escape her control and spread in the room. The sand danced back into its container and the Kazekage gave her a wry smile. By his side Koizumi Sayuri was scribbling furiously as she mumbled to herself.

"I think there is a new plan on the way," the Commander said and Sayuri looked up.

"That was fascinating! The two natures, I wonder if they could work together? I'm going to need to test it. When you come back, will you let me work with you, Akiyama-san?"

"Narue. Sure, I'll be around." No one mentioned the possibility of not coming back. She nodded towards the couple and left, not bothering to see if Kakashi was following. She knew he would. They had a mission to complete and there was no way Hatake Kakashi would let the young Kazekage down. She could hate him for a lot of things but he had always been unfailingly loyal to his village and his leaders. She kept walking through the camp and as they reached the quieter end of it she could hear his footsteps behind her.

POV

"Are you sure about this?" Sayuri asked when the two ninjas had left. Gaara sighed and unbuckled the belt carrying his gourd, rolled his shoulders to get rid of some of the tension in them and sat down.

"No. But if it's like you say we could spare many lives. I hate measuring life against lives – Kakashi is a friend and I'd save him any pain if I could." Sayuri sat down on his lap and his arm automatically snaked around her waist to steady her. She put her arm around his back and he leaned his head on her shoulder. "Besides, he knows the risks and if anyone can manage this it's Kakashi. I don't think we've seen even half of what he can do."

"I guess you're right. I just hope nothing goes wrong. I'd feel terrible if something happened to either of them on a mission I instigated." Gaara couldn't see her eyes but he could hear in her tone that Sayuri's insecurities were playing up. He knew she wished harder than anything that she could carry this mission out herself instead of putting others in danger but due to clumsiness and poor coordination Sayuri would never be skilled in battle. He hugged her tighter.

"I'm the one who sent them, they're acting on my orders, I'm as much if not more to blame. All we can do is trust Kakashi and…"

"Narue, her name is Narue." Sayuri couldn't get rid of the feeling that something was about to happen and she furrowed her brow. "I wonder what their history is, something obviously happened between them."

"My guess is that she wouldn't have been to happy about being relocated. I've never heard of anyone being relocated for training purposes. It can't be too much fun to try and settle in a different village. I don't think Narue is so popular in the Mist – she's obviously skilled but until now she'd been left behind in the village on guard duty and I've never heard of her before. Isn't that strange?" Sayuri nodded and her heart wrenched for the older kunoichi. She'd never seen anyone she thought she'd pity less, she was everything Sayuri wasn't – tall, blonde and outrageously beautiful – and yet she thought she could understand what it felt like to be an outsider in your village. And so, she thought, could Gaara. She decided to try and ignore what Narue looked like and try to be her friend. That is, _if_ she came back.

A/N2: I hope you liked it!


	2. Chapter 2

"How many have you got now?" It might have been six years since they'd seen each other but she knew what he was referring to. At the end of her training he had been away on missions a lot and would check on her when he could. He would always ask how many jutsus she'd managed to learn when he was gone. Sometimes it would be the same infuriating number and other times she'd flush with the triumph of surprising him with a higher number.

As they kept walking in silence Narue considered not answering but it seemed childish. Besides, there was a cursed part of her that still desperately wanted his approval.

"721." She knew his number was in the thousands nowadays but compared to most ninjas hers was an unattainably high number. They kept walking in silence for a while. They had been on missions together so many times before they didn't really need to adjust their speeds or confer about which paths to take. "How are Rei and Jin?" Her two teammates on Team 3 had been her best friends in Konoha but had failed the high standards Kakashi set for his students. Narue had been a special case, and Kakashi had been appointed private tutor for her by the Third.

"They're getting married. They took over the bookshop when Rei's dad retired and only work as shinobi in case of emergencies. Rumours are there's a Rei or Jin Junior on the way, that's why they're not here", Kakashi replied and she couldn't help smiling. Her two best friends had been one of _those_ couples, where you could tell from a very early age the two of them would end up together.

The dusk fell and was turning into night when they both stopped to camp. No words were needed as they gauged the distance to enemy lines and deemed it too close for a fire, as Kakashi settled to take the first watch and Narue rolled herself up in a ball and went to sleep.

POV

Kakashi sat in the dark, his back against a wide tree trunk, listening for any other sounds than Narue's quiet breathing. He'd spent the way trying to wrap his mind around the fact that she was back in his life. Not one of the dreams she often visited in, or even the shameful daydreams he had about her in his more private moments, but real, living and breathing. And hating you, a little voice said in the back of his head.

He'd sent her away from her friends, from what little family she had and from her home. She hadn't said anything on the way except for asking about her former teammates, but he could see signs that the last few years hadn't been too easy. There was a defiant glint in her eyes that he recognized from the days when people shunned him because of his dad. When all were against you defiance was the easiest way to cope. He'd given her a life where she had to cope.

If it weren't for him she would have made jonin at age 15 and been a celebrated hero in Konoha, she'd still have her friends and her aunt.

He let his head fall back against the tree trunk. No matter how many times he went over it in his head, how many times he berated himself for failing her unfairly and sending her away he knew he couldn't have done anything differently. He'd been balancing on a slack tightrope, with what felt like utter insanity below. So he'd done it and then spent the next six years trying to forget he had. The last four of them he'd been distracted by Team 7, the most challenging teaching he'd ever done. In a way it had been comforting because each of them represented something that reminded him of Narue, Sasuke's burning determination, Sakura's passion and Naruto's ability to overcome paired with his loyalty. In a small way he felt as if setting things right again, starting over.

Then he'd failed both Sasuke and Naruto, not realized the fundamental difference between them, not tried harder to quench their competitiveness and ended up seeing them both leave while Sakura stayed behind training under Tsunade. All in all he felt he'd been a bad teacher all around, failing to understand his students completely.

But none had he failed worse than Narue. He'd thought he'd never see her again, that with every passing year he'd think about her less and less until one day she would just be a vague memory. In the six years that had passed he hadn't thought of her every second of every day. What scared him was that whenever he did think about her it was in the same way he had before. Like a man in love.

Or possessed, depending on how you viewed it, which was how he had acted the last year she lived in Konoha.

He glanced over to where she was sleeping. In the dark he couldn't see much more than a darker mass but his mind could still recall perfectly what her sleeping face looked like. He'd watched her sleeping face during many watches on many nights but he knew the picture he carried with him was from just after he'd realized his feelings for her, before he'd realized the magnitude of the situation, before the madness swallowed him. They had been on a simple enough mission, just collecting something for the Hokage in a nearby village, but the item was important enough for him to send Kakashi, and since it wasn't going to be very dangerous he'd thought he'd bring Narue along so they could train on the way. Or in his head, so he could be with her, two long days of just the two of them.

That trip had been the beginning of the end. Just walking out of Konoha he'd been so intensely aware of her presence, he figured rather how someone using a Byakugan on a really close range would feel, and terrified that it would somehow show. So he'd walked with his hands in his pockets, his eyes on the ground as they started out. She'd sensed his mood somehow and just walked next to him in silence. Then the silence had gotten to thick for him, it felt like too much intimacy was implied and he'd blurted out,

"How're Jin and Rei?" She'd laughed then and told him Jin had come up with a new technique that was almost like a shadow clone but of other people. It worked like a mirror so it couldn't really be used in battle and frustrated at the lack of success he'd added the twist that the mirror clone appeared naked. That'll throw some off, he'd said. Unknowingly Narue had then walked in and got hit by the jutsu, standing stark naked in Jin's house and then Rei and her had chased Jin around for revenge ever since. So far he'd managed to escape, narrowly. She finished the story, her eyes glittering with mirth, as to say 'isn't that funny'?

All that had danced around his head was the fact that Jin had seen Narue without her clothes. He'd been torn between monstrous jealousy, wanting to beat Jin up and pleading on his knees to make him repeat it. He'd managed a forced laugh knowing that he'd be taking the whole watch that night, there was no way he'd let his guard down by going to sleep and letting images of Narue haunt him.

So instead of sleeping he'd sat up all night trying to avoid thinking about it. And every child knew that if you tried _not_ to think of something you ended up thinking about it more. The image of her face from that night was the one that stayed with him, in the soft firelight, her features relaxed and her hair in golden coils around it. The clear brow, the straight, narrow nose, the high cheekbones and cheeks that still then held a hint of youthful roundness in them, the arched brows in a slightly darker gold than her hair and the mouth, the soft lips with the cute cupid's bow and full bottom lip that made it so expressive whether it was laughing, pouting or giving him her trademark teasing smile. At that moment the features had been etched in his memory.

Kakashi returned to the present and shook his head to clear it of the image. Experience had to count for something, he thought, he'd lived through this once - he could do it again.

POV

Narue woke up as if a clock had gone off in her head. The force of habit was just too strong, even after six years she knew when she'd slept for three of the six hours they would rest on missions. She sat up and blinked, she could make out his shape in the dark but nothing more. He got up from the tree trunk he'd been leaning against and she took his place. The warmth of his body lingered and she knew her sixteen-year-old self would have revelled in it, imagining Kakashi sitting behind her as she curled against him. Those days were over, she reminded herself. She was no longer sixteen trying to impress him in any way she could. She didn't have to spend her days tossed between ultimate joy and shrieking despair because he had or hadn't done some thing or other. No longer imagining him being desperately in love with her and filled with self-doubt when reality didn't match her daydreams. She wouldn't sink that low ever again. Not for any man. Then again, he wasn't like other men, was he?

She was fairly sure was one of the people who knew him the best, maybe apart from Guy-sensei. She knew him because in a time before what she now referred to as "the insanity" they'd been friends, or as close to friends as anyone with an eight-year age difference could become. In the ninja world you were forced to grow up fast and they shared some common ground.

Neither of them had parents any more and had to face growing pains and problems on their own. More than once they'd run into each other at the Memorial Stone, where the name of his mother and his teammate were inscribed, as well as Narue's parents. She was one of the few who knew how it pained him to not see his father's name on it. His dad had not died during a mission but in shame and by his own hand and was therefore not among the names on the stone.

She held no great love for his father, she thought it was unforgivable to leave his child to fend for himself but she loved her teacher. So she had gone to the Third, asked him if it were possible to put Hatake Sakumo's name on the stone, and if not for the hero he'd been for the son who grieved him. The Third had looked at her in silence for a long time before responding,

"Sakumo disobeyed the Rules, he ignored what is best for Konoha and abandoned a mission, Narue. His name among the people who gave their life on a mission would be to dishonour their sacrifice."

"There would be a lot more names on that stone if it weren't for Sakumo. Times are changing; he has a lot of admirers for putting others before himself. Besides, even if you can't admire him for what he did then he carried out hundreds of successful missions before that. I think keeping his name off the stone is petty and not worthy of either you or him." With that she had left, seething from what she thought of as coldness from the Hokage's side.

Then he'd done what she'd love him for forever, he'd changed his mind. The next time she'd gone to the stone she'd noticed a new inscription, _Hatake Sakumo – for his bravery and undying loyalty_. Bolting up she'd run to get Kakashi.

Narue had found him outside the Academy where he was talking to some fellow jonin.

"Kakashi-sensei! Kakashi-sensei!" He'd turned and she'd almost crashed into him, and he'd caught her by the shoulders. Sensing her excitement he'd leaned down to bring his face level with hers,

"Calm down, Narue, what is it?"

"You have to see it, come look!" She'd grabbed him by the hand and dragged him away as his fellow jonin rolled their eyes. But Kakashi had never had any airs, even though he was and always had been a prodigy, so he just followed her, letting her drag him by the hand until they got to the Stone.

"Look!" He gave the Stone a blank stare, it looked like it was still in place and in one piece, his gaze said. Then it sharpened and he stepped closer, she felt his hand around hers tighten and her thirteen-year-old heart swelled in pride. She'd done something important, something that mattered to him.

"Did you do this?" He asked without looking at her.

"Yes. But there were many who wanted it. A lot of your dad's teammates from that day have kids at the Academy and they…they all agreed it was wrong to not have his name on the Stone." He hadn't said anything else, just stood there with his hand in hers. He hadn't had to say anything; she'd known perfectly well what it would feel like to not have the tangible memory of her parents, their names on the stone that she could physically visit.

It was one of her best memories, from the time when she'd seen him as some sort of demi-god, idolized him and looked up to him as her favourite teacher, happy at any chance to be beside him and she'd done something important for him. It was when she was older and realized he was human that she fell in love with him.

It was in the happy friend zone she'd learned why he always wore a mask. She'd been fourteen then and had started to realize the nature of relationships between men and women, and she'd wondered why someone like Kakashi, who was obviously handsome under the mask wore one. For a short, laughable period she'd thought it was because he was too handsome and women fell in love with him at sight when he took it off. Luckily, she'd never shared this suspicion with Kakashi who probably would have laughed out loud at it.

But she had asked him and after a brief hesitation he'd told her that when he was very young he had looked remarkably alike to his mother. It had been just after her death and every time his father looked at his son, pain would flash in his eyes. He'd see the features of his dead wife echoing in his son's face. Sakumo would avoid looking at his son and Kakashi, a perceptive and possibly _too_ intelligent child, had donned his first mask. Then it had become a habit and now, he explained, he felt naked without it.

"But isn't it uncomfortable?" she'd asked as they were sitting under a tree, enjoying the shade after a drawn out practice session, he leaning against the trunk, eyes closed, appearing to nap and she cross-legged pulling up grass like the child she'd still been then. She thought she saw a ghost of a smile under the mask.

"Not really, I'm so used to it now."

"Do you sleep with it on?" He opened his uncovered eye to peer at her.

"No, why do you ask?"  
"Well, I mean," she furrowed her brow to word what she meant right, "You're at your most relaxed when you sleep, right? And if you sleep without it on, doesn't that mean it's more comfortable to not wear it?" He blinked in surprise, as if he'd never thought about it before.

"I guess that's true. I suppose it's because no one sees me when I sleep." She nodded wisely,

"So you still wear it for the same reason, you don't want your face to be seen by others?" He didn't reply and she was quiet for a moment, then asked, "Can I see you without it?" He seemed to consider it for a while before he shrugged and pulled the mask down. As she'd guessed his face was very handsome, the scar over his left eye saving it from the dullness of perfection. He had a narrow face with a straight nose, the kind of high cheekbones she'd heard the girls in her class covet and a sculpted mouth.

"I've seen pictures of your mum." She tilted her head, "You're not as pretty", she said teasingly. He laughed and seemed to relax. After that she'd seem with his mask and without it but he seldom took it off around people he wasn't completely comfortable with. She carried that knowledge in her heart like a treasure.

After she'd turned fifteen the hero idolization phase had passed and made for a more comfortable friendship. As she was allowed on more and more missions but wasn't on any three man cell team she'd go where she was needed and sometimes not see Kakashi for weeks and then go on a mission with him and spend every waking moment together for a while. The fact that she missed him when she didn't see him should have been a tip-off but she hadn't seen the warning signs back then and thought of him as just a good friend.

Maybe if she'd seen it earlier she would've been able to stop it, would have avoided having her heart shattered. Torn into tiny little pieces when he had calmly told her she needed to move by order of the Hokage. She'd thought they were friends back then, that maybe one day when she was older he'd see her differently and they could be more than friends but he'd sent her away without batting an eye.

Her skills had undeniably improved from it, she thought with a bitter smile, but that was mostly due the fact she'd worked in a frenzy of rage, frustration and pain rather than benefitting from relocation. For a long time she imagined using every new jutsu she learned on Kakashi, still did sometimes.

She had adjusted to the Hidden Mist but she would never be one of them – as they let her know as often as they could. In one way the war had been a blessing in disguise as it brought all the villages together and ended long-standing rivalry. The forehead-protector she wore around her arm no longer showed the Leaf of Konoha, now she was just part of the Allied Shinobi Forces, not an outsider any longer. Since the reasoning behind her relocation had been fuzzy the people in Kimigakure had assumed she had been excommunicated from Konoha and instead of making them friendlier since she couldn't be a spy they had shunned her on suspicion of some crime she'd never committed.

She sighed and shifted; sitting still in the early morning chill was making her stiff. Narue glanced over at where Kakashi had settled down, he was lying with his back to her so she couldn't see his face but his even breathing convinced her he was still asleep. Truth to be told she had no idea how to act around him anymore. She was still furious with him for sending her away, the futility of it, for not caring enough about her, not even as a student or friend to let her stay in Konoha. It was only the fact that he couldn't know how she'd felt about him that had kept her from punching him that day. Pride had prevented her. Had he known he wouldn't have been just callous, he would have been a first class bastard. As it stood she could be mad at him for ignoring three years of friendship, making her go against her will, for making her leave everything she knew and loved behind but she couldn't breathe a word of the real reason she felt so betrayed. Couldn't let him know he'd broken her heart that day, and every day since that she hadn't been ordered back to Konoha. To just not say anything at all seemed to be the wisest move. If she broke the dam of six years of pent up rage and hurt she didn't know if even Hatake Kakashi's impressive skills could save him.

A/N: I hope you liked it!


	3. Chapter 3

As they walked in silence again in the mid-morning sun Kakashi wondered what in complete quietness that made it comfortable, or awkward, or like this one -hostile. As they were getting too close to enemy territory to talk he remembered other missions, other silences that had been full of mutual understanding, and sometimes, even humour. This silence was very different, he could _feel_ the hostility emanating from Narue. She still hadn't said anything, hadn't yelled or tried to strangle him in his sleep – which the Narue he knew would when she was mad – she'd just not said a word. He found it to be worse than back then when he'd made her upset she'd let him know. They were very different, he seldom let things bother him and his easy-going manner sometimes annoyed her endlessly. When Narue was upset the world knew. She had a temper even though it took effort to rise it, he knew that when she unleashed it, it was lethal. In the literal sense since she had trouble with her chakra control when upset. Even so, he thought he'd prefer risk to his life to this cold silence.

Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by a noise. Someone was in the forest, walking towards them. Quickly he looked around for a place to hide but there were no grooves or rocks, just trees and flat ground. A tree would have to do. Narue had stopped when he did and looked as if she was listening intently. He gestured the sign for "hide" and slipped behind a large tree trunk. To his surprise Naure followed instead of finding her own hiding space. The steps were coming closer and the fact that they were easily heard meant the enemy still hadn't sensed their presence but in a matter of seconds he would be really close and two people behind a tree were easily spotted. Narue took his hand in hers and he felt his heart start beating louder, both from the contact of her skin and adrenaline rushing as he prepared to fight.

Fighting in enemy territory would be disastrous, their only option if they wanted to stay alive was to avoid discovery. Suddenly he felt a movement, _inside_ his arm and he looked up sharply. Narue just put her finger over her lips with the hand that wasn't holding his and he felt the sensation spread, it felt a bit like the softest of summer breezes, but somehow on the inside. She gestured with her free hand something that looked like a circle in the air, then pointed at herself and then him. Confused he tried to make sense of it before he thought…she couldn't possibly have figured out how to…she must have. She was transferring the nature chakra from the air to him through her, making their shared chakra look like the rest of the world to any sensory ninja technique. Narue had just made them invisible to ninjas.

The sound of a twig breaking made him realize how close the enemy was and before he could think he'd put an arm around Narue's waist, pulled her flush against him and turned them both so her back was against the tree and her entire body was shielded by his. She struggled for an instant before she remembered the danger of making noise and just stilled.

The steps came into the clearing they'd just stood in and every muscle in his body tensed, ready to spring. Then he heard their voices and his blood froze – it was Madara and the one called Tobi, the latter didn't really walk as much as travel through the earth so he hadn't heard him. He and Narue may be among the strongest the Forces had to offer but alone against the Uchiha and the clone-father they wouldn't stand a chance. He wouldn't be able to save Narue if they were discovered. He held his breath and prayed.

"They're here then?" Madara's deep voice asked and Kakashi tensed but Tobi replied,

"Yes, right under your feet. 2000 on standby."

"Good. The Allied Forces are getting cocky after that ancient jutsu worked, we'll let them get cockier for two days, then we strike around noon. They won't know what hit them."

"As you wish." The conversation ended and the steps came closer, then turned west and slowly disappeared. Kakashi let out the breath he'd been holding and looked down into the wide eyes of Narue. His mind suddenly blanked as he realized she was pressed against him, her back against the tree, one of his hands in hers and the other braced on the trunk over her head with her looking up at him. His breathing slowed as his gaze slid from her eyes to her slightly parted lips and his heart slammed so hard against his ribcage he was sure she could hear it. Then she turned her head, broke the contact, let go of his hand and he stumbled back.

His head was a mess and his stomach churned – he was back _there_ again. The past six years had done nothing to dull his feelings; the sharp edge of them was twisting in his heart like a knife. His legs felt all shaky and weak and his head was spinning.

"We have to get back", Narue's voice was flat and her eyes had shifted back to cold from the short moment he'd thought he'd seen them unguarded and vulnerable. The knife twisted again and his stomach sank, he must have imagined it, the instant when she'd let her guard fall and they'd almost kissed, it had been all in his head. So he nodded and pushed his thoughts to the matter at hand.

Time was of the essence now, there were 2000 clones that could take the Allied Forces by surprise, their only chance was to get to the hiding place first and destroy them. In two days they would strike and it was at least twelve hours back to the main camp, and twelve back – that left a day and a half for Sayuri to finish her jutsu, teach it and for Gaara to gather the forces necessary. They needed to hurry. As if a start shot had been heard they set off.

POV

Narue had time to collect herself as they ran in silence. For an instant at the clearing she had forgotten the six years of pain and betrayal he had inflicted on her and all he'd done was stand close, looking down at her with his dark eyes and her mind had gone blank. Then the delusional part of her brain had taken over, imagining that he had been looking at her mouth, that he had angled his face ever so slightly as if to kiss her. Luckily some part of her mind had remained conscious and screamed at her to _move_. She'd broken the spell he held over her and he had stepped away. Cursing her hormones for being weak she'd known she had to leave that place, had to get away. The fourth sentence she said to him in six years was,

"We have to get back." He'd nodded and they'd taken off.

Approaching the halfway mark he slowed down and she remembered Kakashi firmly believed in the power of rest. He stopped completely and she sat down on a stone, wincing a little. She'd been on guard duty in the Hidden Mist since the war started and hadn't been running much but she'd be damned if she let Kakashi out-run her.

He'd sunk down with his usual lazy grace, his back against a fallen tree. Of course it was the best vantage point in the clearing, his back was covered and he had a free range in front of him. Kakashi didn't miss a step on missions. In acknowledgement of the Rules he followed to a t she lowered herself so her back was against the stone, shielding her. She was now watching for anyone coming up behind him as he did the same for her.

"Was that nature chakra you used to hide us?" She nodded. Damn him and his intelligence for figuring it out so easily - and damn her if she didn't find it attractive. "Can you do that to anyone?" She shrugged, she was sure she could, the question was whether or not she wanted to. So far in Hidden Mist she hadn't found anyone she'd wanted protect enough to use this particular trick. She'd only used it on a few of her wards when she was on body-guarding missions. "Do you think you could use it on more than one person simultaneously?" She didn't know where he was going with this, it sounded remarkably alike to constructing a plan and she didn't really want to be part of said plan in case she had to spend more time with him.

"I don't know, it wears off after a little while and isn't a full cover for more than the person I'm…in contact with. It could maybe be a decent cover for five people, if they could supress their own chakra effectively." She could almost hear the wheels turning in his head.

"How does it work in combat?" She cursed inwardly – he'd just discovered one of her best-kept secrets; no one in the Mist had ever come close to knowing that she could infuse chakra in others to make their attacks stronger. Then again he knew the true nature of her abilities, as he'd been her teacher for three years.

"It adds nature chakra force to attacks." She saw his eyes widen. Nature chakra was usually only available to a select few, one example being the Toad Sages and then only in moderation. To be able to amass nature chakra to her extent and being able to hand it out like candy was unheard of in the ninja world. Just see what a little frustration training can do, she thought to herself.

She would have loved to keep the stricken look on his usually relaxed face but had to add, "It's not risk-free. It takes immense control to reach the amount needed without going overboard and burning out someone's chakra veins, or worse. I've never really been able to test it." He nodded and stood up. Break time was over. As one they set off again.

"Shouldn't they be back by now?" It had been a little over 24 hours since they'd dispatched Kakashi and Narue and Sayuri was getting nervous. Gaara looked up from his papers to watch her pace.

"I'm sure they're fine. They probably-"

"Hatake-sama and Akiyama-san would like to see you", a guard suddenly interrupted him mid-sentence with an air of disapproval of the people seeking an audience with the Commander at such a late hour.

"Let them in", Gaara barked and the guard backed out. He rose and Sayuri stopped her pacing to face Kakashi and Narue as they entered, looking worn and dirty. Kakashi stood with his usual air of relaxation but Sayuri saw a tension in his jaw under the mask. Narue stood tall and straight next to him, her beautiful face impassive.

"What did you discover?" Gaara asked and the two ninjas at the entrance glanced at each other before Kakashi started,

"The terrain is as you thought," he nodded towards Sayuri, "but as we got close to the point of planned execution we overheard Madara and the clone father called Tobi discuss-"

"Madara?" Sayuri gasped, "You _overheard_ him? How on earth did you manage to avoid-". She caught a look from Gaara and stopped. "Sorry, go on, Kakashi." He nodded and continued,

"They were discussing the 2000 clones they had hidden under them and when to put them in action - the day after tomorrow at noon. We managed to remain undetected thanks to Narue, she has a technique you'll be interested in, Sayuri." Sayuri felt the panic start to build in the back of her throat. The day after tomorrow with twelve hours approximately to get to the hiding place. The jutsu was just an idea in her head and now she only had hours to complete it. The two Konoha ninjas just stood immobile, collected and calm, looking like something out of a story book, he the silver prince and she the golden princess, no, queen, Sayuri decided as she caught the look in Narue's eyes. She glanced nervously at Gaara who stood deep in thought.

"What technique?" she asked.

"Show her", Kakashi said and got a haughty look in return. "Please", he added and Narue walked over.

"Your hand, Sayuri," she said and held out her own. Sayuri let Narue take her hand in hers and suddenly felt the breezing sensation under her skin. It only took her a moment to piece the facts together.

"You can transfer nature chakra?" she exclaimed. Narue nodded and Sayuri's brain kicked into gear. "Meaning you could hide Kakashi, making him appear as the air around him to a sensory ninja… What about combat?" Narue let go of her hand,

"It's possible but not risk-free." Sayuri nodded,

"As it can ruin the chakra veins…" She trailed off; an idea had just popped into her head, the enormity of the possibility stunning her. She rushed over to the desk and rifled through the papers until she found Shizune's report from the autopsy of one of the clones. Sayuri hurriedly turned the pages until she found what she was looking for. She looked up at Narue,

"To what extent can you control the air?" Narue furrowed her brow,

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Shizune states in her report," Sayuri fought to keep her voice steady and calm, to not rush into a confused daze of explanations, "that she doesn't think the clones breathe normally. She thinks they _photosynthesize_." She got blank stares all around and rolled her eyes inwardly. Learning how to fight was good and all but heaven forbid someone understood biology and chemistry, a large component of any jutsu affecting the physical world. "Like plants the clones take in carbon dioxide, sunlight and water as food and produce oxygen as a waste product – that's why they don't need to rest or eat like us but why they seldom attack at night – there's no sunlight then. If…" Sayuri drew a deep breath to voice the idea clearly, "If Narue can control the levels of carbon dioxide in the air she could cut off the clones' life force." Everyone stood silent and Sayuri straightened up. It was a good idea, she knew it, she'd explain photosynthesis all night if it made them understand, she'd-

"That's molecular level!" Gaara, exclaimed, "It would make one of my sand grains seem like moving a mountain in comparison. The control necessary…" He trailed off and looked to Narue. She stood still, her voice quiet when she asked,

"Sayuri, I know the air is made out of different components but isn't carbon dioxide the smallest one?" Sayuri nodded,

"Yes, it's 0.039% of air." Narue looked slightly crestfallen and Sayuri hurried to add, "But what I was thinking was instead of trying to manipulate such a miniscule number you could maybe use the nitrogen. There's about 78% nitrogen in air, if there was a way for you to…I don't know how to put it – stretch it, move it so there was only nitrogen in one point the clones there would die."

"Sayuri, there's no way, Narue couldn't learn how to manipulate chakra on such a miniscule level in a few hours. There's just-" Kakashi was interrupted by Narue,

"Did I ask you to speak for me?" Sayuri shuddered at the icy tone. She didn't know what had happened between the two ninjas but if she were Kakashi she'd freeze to the core hearing that tone. "I can try, Sayuri. I'll need someone who can see what I'm doing though." Sayuri looked over to Kakashi to ask him if he could help with his Sharingan when Narue continued, "A Byakugan user." Nervously she looked over at the older Konoha ninja but he just smiled and shook his head slightly. Don't push it, he seemed to say.

"I'll go get Neji."

"Thanks, Kakashi. Narue, how many can you hide with that chakra?"

"Five, at the most."

"Very well. I can't send the whole army that deep into enemy territory anyway, and I'd prefer if those that go were hidden. So, five it is. Kakashi, Narue, Neji, me and…" He hesitated, seemed to struggle with himself. "And you, Sayuri."

"Me?" Sayuri couldn't believe her ears. She never went close to battle, Gaara wouldn't even let her leave the camp. He looked away,

"You're the only one who knows where these jutsus are going, they're new. We'll need you." Sayuri nodded, she'd do her absolute best, and she'd prove she wasn't useless. "I'll go get Neji with you, Kakashi." The two men left and Sayuri turned to Narue. Her shoulders had slumped slightly and she was biting her lip. It comforted her a bit to know the self-confident kunoichi had her uncertain moments as well.

"Okay, I suppose we should get started. Do you want to sit down?"

POV

Kakashi didn't have to wonder long why Gaara had offered to come with him. The minute they were out of earshot of the tent the young Kazekage turned to him with something close to desperation in his eyes.

"Your main job on this mission is going to be protecting Sayuri. Neji and Narue will deal with the jutsu, Sayuri will supervise and you and I will protect her. But she can't know about it. Okay?" Gaara rose a few more notches in Kakashi's regard. It was true that Sayuri would be vital in carrying out this mission but sending the woman you loved into the jaws of danger had to be hell. And yet, it was what was best for the good of the many.

"I'll protect her with my life."

"I wish I didn't have to ask you."

"I understand." Probably better than you know, he thought, as he left Gaara standing in the dark. Because he knew that if their roles were reversed and Narue was the one who had to go into battle virtually defenceless he would have done the same thing. Given anything to protect her. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and went off in search of Guy's prodigy pupil.


	4. Chapter 4

Narue fought to keep focused as she felt a bead of sweat trail down her back. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor in the Kazekage's tent, her hand resting on one knee, her palm facing upwards to feel the air moving over it. She had a splitting headache and her muscles were stiff from sitting still.

The young Konoha ninja called Neji was sitting, his back against a crate, the silver eyes of his Byakugan focused on a spot over her open palm. It had taken him a few tries before he could visualize such a small area magnified many times over but he hadn't complained a single time of what must be as excruciatingly difficult for him as it was for her - so they'd just kept working in silence.

Sayuri was watching, looking worn and tired but with her eyes wide open, reminding Narue of a baby owl peeking out of a nest. Gaara came and went while attending the multitude of duties attached to leaving another in command as he went on the mission and thankfully Kakashi had stayed clear of the tent so far. He probably knew his presence would disturb her concentration and stayed away on purpose.

Narue felt the air moving over her fingertips and tried to go deeper without sinking too fast. The first time she'd tried she'd gone too deep too fast and ended up feeling as if every cell of her skin were visible to her before Sayuri had brought her around, telling her her eyes had just rolled back and she'd passed out. The problem was that even though she now could feel the molecules, she hadn't worked out which ones were which gases. Neji hadn't been able to help, he could only see so much and now she was struggling on her own.

Suddenly she felt as if a gust of wind strong enough to pitch her over blew in. Her concentration broke and she realized it was just a small breeze from someone opening the tent flap. Kakashi stepped in and Narue only paid half a mind as Sayuri explained the problem to him. Then he walked over and kneeled in front of her on the floor. He took her hand in his, still with her palm facing up. She was about to protest when he just said,

"Concentrate", quietly. Then he bent over her hand and she felt his warm breath against her palm. Was he going to kiss her hand? What was he doing? Then she realized, he was breathing, letting her feel the air as he exhaled and inhaled. Carbon dioxide was the human waste product, meaning she should feel more of it when he exhaled than when he inhaled.

She tried to regain her focus, tried to ignore the feeling of his hand holding hers as his mouth was centimetres from where her pulse was hammering. She tried to go deeper and felt how the air going past her fingertips felt different other than being warmer. The minutes passed as she struggled to focus when she suddenly realized that somehow the warm air felt smoother, more slippery than the other and she straightened slightly, tried to pinpoint exactly what she felt. Carefully and excruciatingly slowly she felt for the parts that felt like…wet glass, she decided. They felt like they'd make the same screeching noise if you touched them like rubbing your fingers over wet glass. Even slower she let the tiniest of breezes she could conjure push at the glassy particles and doubled her concentration as she felt them slowly give way.  
"Neji?"

"I see it! You're moving part of them!" Narue slumped in relief. Sayuri was up in a flash and almost danced over.

"You did it! You did it! Amazing! And the smallest part too! Nitrogen will be easy compared to this!" Gaara suddenly entered and with a laugh Sayuri latched on to him, wrapping her legs around his waist and kissing him enthusiastically.

Narue looked away with a smile and her eyes locked with Kakashi's where he was still kneeling in front of her. He was smiling at her, the way he'd used to when he'd still been her teacher, his visible eye narrowing in the same charming way. He looked at her with the same mix of surprise and pride as then and her heart constricted. Her sixteen-year-old self may have taken a leaf out of Sayuri's book and kissed him triumphantly, riding the wave of joy impressing him brought her but her 22-year-old present self had lived through six years of hurting and preferred as little contact as possible.

So, she withdrew her hand and looked away. The hypersensitivity caused by concentrating on such a small area made her feel the warmth of his hand, the weight of it even when it wasn't holding hers and she rubbed it to get rid of the sensation.

"Thanks," she offered, he had after all turned the key to solving the problem, as he had many times before. Kakashi was and always would be an innately good teacher, no matter how she felt about him personally. He nodded curtly and rose, went over to the other side of the tent where he sunk down on a chair. Seconds later his face was entirely covered by one of his books.

"Narue, you have three hours til sunrise, can you make it?" Narue took a deep breath, rolled her shoulders and got back to work.

POV

They'd set off at sunrise and Kakashi, though showing none of it, was nervous. Narue and Neji hadn't had any time to rest and the two of them had looked beyond tired when they set out. The rest of them hadn't had any sleep either but they hadn't spent nearly 12 hours concentrating on molecular level chakra. Narue had been pale as a ghost and he'd _seen_ the headache in her beautiful eyes. He didn't think he had ever seen her so exhausted, not even after a night of watching, being constantly on her guard. And yet, here she was, leading the five-man cell deep into enemy territory. Behind her was Neji, followed by Gaara, then Sayuri, with him taking up the rear.

Time was running out but Kakashi was itching to call for a break, let Narue rest for a few minutes, when she stopped herself. She turned and surprised he noted she looked slightly better than she had leaving the camp, and this after 8 straight hours of running. There was colour in her cheeks and her eyes were bright with excitement.

"I need to gather up some chakra before I can transfer it - it'll only be a minute." The others nodded and took their chance for a quick rest, as Narue remained standing in the same spot, her eyes closed, her hands in the seal of the Ram. He recognized it as her favoured sign for gathering chakra. The seal didn't actually matter, it was just a point of focus and the Ram was one of the easier seals to hold for a long time.

He sat down himself and took the chance to surreptitiously watch her unnoticed while her eyes were closed. Watching her had always been a double-sided sword. On one hand she was beautiful, even more so now, and he found every feature of her compelling. On the other hand it hurt, for every second he watched her unnoticed was another second of reminder that he couldn't have her. He sighed inwardly, it seemed he was in the same cycle of self-torture as he had been six years ago. Ever since the fateful day he'd realized his student was no longer a child – at least not in his eyes.

He'd been walking down the street, on a sunny summer day with no duties calling him for once. A sweltering heat had been plaguing Konoha the last week and people were moving sluggishly, squinting in the sun and devouring ice-creams and cold drinks. The temperature didn't inspire many plans, Guy had been talking about a swimming contest in the lake and Kakashi was tempted to accept just to go cool down in the clear blue water, but until then he was aimlessly wandering around. He couldn't really go home, his small apartment was like an oven at this time of the day, it was right under the metal plated roof and was baking all day in the heat.

To stave off boredom he'd swung by the bookstore and picked up a novel. He hadn't been paying much attention, just grabbed something off the 'featured' shelf, paid and left. Now, as the sun did its best to reduce people to puddles, he pulled it out of his pocket to see if it could distract him from the heat. He read the first paragraph and almost stopped in his tracks.

_The dress hugged her like a second skin, red like her lips, and slid up another inch as she crossed her legs. Long, long legs leading to shoes the same colour as the dress, with ice-pick heels and straps around slender ankles. As she bent forward to adjust the strap her cleavage, rising softly from the dress, came into my view and with her dark hair falling around her face as she looked up at me and breathed, "Please Officer, I have no one else to turn to." _Kakashi could feel himself blushing under his mask and turned the book to read the cover, see what he'd gone and bought.

_The new Icha Icha Series have become an instant hit around the world, written by the enigmatic Jiraiya._ _The first book follows the passionate story between beautiful, strong willed Tama who won't stop at anything to get what she wants and the man she gets to help her, police officer Jirou. Together they are running from Tama's mysterious past, and as they fight for their lives, passion flares between them_.

Kakashi almost laughed out loud. Jiraiya? That would explain the long description of the female anatomy as an introduction. It looked like it would be fairly trashy. He should toss it. That'd teach him to just grab things in stores. He hesitated. What was the harm? He was a grown man - he could read whatever he damn well liked. Even so he felt a bit flustered as he picked up where he'd stopped reading.

He looked up as if he'd been in a trance and realized he'd just walked out of town, down the road from the main gates and read the first 70 pages without looking up, without feeling the heat, his reflexes and other people moving out of his way must have been the only reason he hadn't bumped into anyone so far. As he looked up over the book he thought for a second that he was still in it, still reading about Jirou admiring Tama from behind, describing her swaying hips and hypnotizing walk. Then he snapped out of it as he realized the woman walking in front of him was not a figment of his imagination (or rather Jiraiya's) but an actual person. Her long legs, flared hips and tiny waist were all right there. Jirou's reaction to Tama suddenly made a lot more sense to him as he felt his throat getting dry, his heart slow down and pump heavier, making him feel like one giant throbbing pulse all over.

Then the woman took off the hat she'd been wearing to shield her face from the sun and long golden tendrils tumbled down her back. It was Narue. His brain froze in shock as she suddenly stopped, as if she'd dropped something and with his brain still turned to "off" he crashed into her. She let out a surprised "eek" as they both tumbled to the ground.

His brain heated up from it's frozen state in a millisecond as it realized Narue was now under him and flashes of the passages he'd read just minutes before danced in his mind.

With the character in the book's faces changed to his and Narue's he suddenly felt a hunger like none he'd never felt before. She was lying under him, her hair splayed over the ground, her arms over her head from the fall, with one of his legs between hers. He could feel her soft curves pressing against him and in the heat her white blouse had become almost transparent, showing the outline of what she was wearing underneath. Blood that had been thundering in his head all headed south, leaving him feeling lightheaded and weak. Oh, God, was all the thought he could muster as his imagination showed him clearly what his body thought he ought to be doing.

Then his eyes met hers and he saw the laughter in them die and be replaced by wonder, then the thundercloud grey seemed to intensify, darken and she opened her mouth to say something. He saw her lips part the way they always did before she was going to ask him something and didn't know how to put it. The realization hit him like a punch in the stomach and he scrambled off her. She was his student, she had turned sixteen not two months ago and in his head he'd kissed her, ripped her shirt clear off her and heard her call his name in desperation.

"Sorry, sorry", he said in what he hoped sounded like his normal voice. "I was walking and reading, stupid of me. You okay?" She sat up and feeling like a creep he backed off without helping her up. He didn't think he'd be able to take more physical contact. "Well, have to go, busy day and all." Then he turned and ran. He kept running all the way back to his apartment where he stripped in four seconds flat and jumped into the coldest shower of his life.

Kakashi sighed; his personal hell had started that day. Every time he'd seen Narue after that desire had slammed through him, he became intensely aware of how she looked, how she smelled. Being able to recall the details made his nights miserable as he tossed and turned, the scent of her in his nostrils, the feel of her breasts pressed against this chest. His mind gleefully added more details - her eyes meeting his as she moved under him, her voice calling his name, the silky touch of her skin against his, until sleep was rendered impossible.

When the layer of attraction added to friendship it hadn't been long before he'd fallen completely for Narue. Then he'd slid down to the ninth circle of hell. Narue suddenly opened her eyes and for a moment she held his gaze before looking away.

POV

Narue opened her eyes and met Kakashi's gaze and it almost made her take a step back, from the sheer intensity of it. She wondered what he'd do if he knew how that look had always affected her. The first time she'd seen it was one of the hottest days she'd ever experienced and she'd been out taking walk to try and find a spot with a breeze, some shade. It had been about two weeks since her sixteenth birthday and as long since she'd realized her feelings for her teacher. She was still nurturing the change within her, the secret that was only hers; carried it around like a treasure. It had been an innocent time full of daydreams and secret smiles in response to people commenting that she seemed even happier than usual. Before it became a burden, before she felt like she was being crushed by her feelings.

Still swathed in the childlike belief that everything always turned out right in the end she had been happy that day, imagining Kakashi walking next to her, talking as usual. Then he'd look around before stepping close, hugging her close, whispering he felt the same way about her as she did for him, before softly kissing her.

It had been a stupid dream, the limited experiences of a teenager rolled into vague notions from movies and books, ending with a misty fairy tale. Now she could laugh at how naïve she had been, thinking everything would work out. That falling in love would be like a long velvet slide ending in a pool of mutual feelings, leading to happily ever after. Still, those two weeks of innocent dreaming had been as close as she'd ever get to him.

The insipid daydream had been interrupted as she realized she'd dropped her hair tie. As she'd taken her hat off to look for it and tie her hair back again he'd crashed into her. Taking her down with him they'd tumbled to the ground.

She had realized who it was and been about to laugh it off, dust off and maybe invite him to go search for shade when she'd looked up into his eyes and seen that intense look. It felt like lightning struck in her head, it blew everything but him out of her mind, set it on fire, charged the atmosphere and the impact roared through her entire body. In that instance she'd learnt when it meant to be a woman as the desire filled her. His hard body was pressed to hers, their legs were tangled and she felt like she was a piece of a puzzle that had finally found its matching piece.

The fire in her mind spread and instinctively she felt a need to be closer, she wanted to feel his skin on hers, his hands setting more fires under her skin. Narue wanted to reach up, pull him down towards her, have him kiss her, have his everything. Confused by the army of new emotions racing through her she was about to ask him for, she had no idea what, just please God, anything. His eyes had widened as if he just realized who she was and he got up, off her in an instant and smiled in his usual way, the way she'd secretly named his happy hedgehog smile, casually apologized and disappeared. Left sitting on the road, her heart pounding, feeling to weak to get up she'd realized she wasn't just in love with Kakashi-sensei - she wanted him, desperately. When she'd finally calmed down she'd gone home and taken out the book her aunt had given her with the brusque words that she didn't want to have explain sex to her, just read the book. So far she'd been too embarrassed and had hidden it in her closet. Now she resolutely took it out and began reading.

It certainly had been informative but Narue had almost regretted reading it afterwards as it had fed her imagination and rather made everything worse as she then knew exactly what she wanted to do to Kakashi, not to mention what she wanted him to do to her. There had been many sleepless nights after that and soon the weight of it all had started to wear on her. Especially when he looked at her like he'd done that day, like he'd done just now. She swallowed to ease the dryness in her throat before she turned to the others.

"Okay, I'm set."


	5. Chapter 5

Kakashi could hardly believe it, they had won a devastating victory, a 5 man cell to 2000. It was unheard of. All because of two remarkable women - little Sayuri and her sharp brain and Narue with her incredible skill. Together they had accomplished a mission that would go down in history. He glanced back, exhausted beyond belief after 36 hours of running, 12 hours of intense concentration and training and then the execution of a minutely detailed plan where the main job rested all on her Narue had carried out her share to perfection before sinking down against a tree, her brain refusing to stay awake any longer. Neji was carrying her since he'd been resting the longest but as he and Narue were the same height he looked as if he was getting tired. Kakashi slowed down and offered to take over. Neji nodded gratefully and for the first time in six years Kakashi held Narue in his arms.

He cradled her close and tried to not be happy becuase she was unconscious. But he was fairly sure that if she'd been conscious she would have protested against being close to him and that made it hard not to appreciate her warm body against his, her head resting on his shoulder and her long hair brushing the back of his hand with every step.

They got back to camp at twilight and Sayuri offered to let Narue use her tent to rest, she was going to go with Gaara anyhow and that way the older kunoichi could sleep undisturbed. Kakashi had nodded in agreement and taken her there, gently lowering her on the bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. He'd been about to leave when he changed his mind.

Sayuri had assured him Narue was only exhausted and would come around on her own, but what if something happened? So instead he sat down on the single chair in the tent. He'd just been about to drift off himself when Narue stirred. She sighed before opening her eyes. She blinked a few times before she sat up straight in the bed, jumped up and looked around frantically.

"Did we make it? Did we get them?"

"Every single one." She whooped with excitement and shocked him by throwing her arms around him, laughing in triumph.

"I can't believe it! It worked! I-Kakashi-sensei, it…" The moment the familiar epithet slid off her tongue she stiffened, seemed to realize they were no longer teacher and student, six years ago, together in Konoha. She stepped back awkwardly and the ice armour she had acquired slid seamlessly into place. The tiny flicker of hope died inside him. She still hated him, she'd only hugged him, shared her joy because for a second she'd forgotten, slid into old habits. The fact that the old Narue was still there, buried under her cold demeanour, only made it worse. He'd glimpsed the real Narue but she'd never again be herself around him.

"Narue, I…", Kakashi ran a hand through his hair, searching for words. Impatiently he pulled down his mask and pushed off his forehead protector. He wanted to see her properly, wanted to explain.

The mission had made him realize that the war could end his life, or Narue's, suddenly, and she'd never know the true reason he'd sent her away. He couldn't live with the knowledge that Narue would hate him after he was gone, remember him for the selfish things he'd done instead of as her friend.

"When I sent you to the Mist, it wasn't because…it wasn't because you failed." She'd crossed her arms protectively over chest but he thought he could sense a slight crack in the ice armour, just a hint of real emotion in her eyes. "I was…I couldn't…I l-" He was interrupted by a messenger of the Mist entering the tent.

"Akiyama-san, your fiancé wants to see you." Kakashi felt his heart painfully contract, freeze and fall to the floor, shattering into a million sharp little pieces. Narue gave him a long, searching look before stepping over the pieces to get to the entrance.

"We'll finish this later?" Without waiting for his response she left.

POV

Annoyed she stalked through the camp. What could Ichirou want? And why right now? Six years she had wanted to know why Kakashi had sent her away and then he was interrupted mid-explanation. If it weren't for the fact Ichirou was her superior she'd damned the consequences and stayed. With a sigh she reached the tent belonging to her _fiancé_. She wrinkled her nose at the thought. It was a term ill fitting for the arrangement they had. Breeding buddies, no, not even, breeding colleagues, would be a better term. The Mist elders were keen to have her impressive gene pool paired with the darling of the Village, Ichirou, who had an innate talent for Mist jutsus.

Together they were supposed to produce an heir to become a hero of the village who would quite possibly be in the running for the title of Mizukage from birth. The marriage part was just a formality and the baby making process would be left to a test tube and then grown like a cake in an oven in a woman who'd proven her childbearing ability. So all in all it was a fancy name for donating an egg. She hadn't really thought much about it, life in Mist had always felt removed to her, like she wasn't really there. It had started as sitting off time and she'd just never been able to escape the feeling so whatever happened there didn't really feel like it was happening to her.

She entered the tent.

"What do you want, Ichirou?" The man inside the tent turned towards her.

"Now, now, is that any way to treat your fiancé?" She rolled her eyes inwardly. Ichirou was incredibly handsome, but he knew it well and it had made him pompous and self-indulgent, always assured that everyone wanted him.

"You know as well as I do that's just a formality." His deep green eyes glittered as he ran a hand through his jet-black hair. Posing, like a cat on a fence. He probably purred when he saw his reflection, Narue thought.

"Narue, you wound me. You know I think highly of you, I'd be honoured to have you as my wife." She knew all he really wanted was to sleep with her, tick her off the list and move on to the next conquest. So far she'd been the first woman to turn him down and he seemed to take this as a sign to intensify his courting.

"Ichirou, did you bring me here for any particular reason?" He sighed lightly and shook his head as if she were a child and he was showing her incredible patience.

"Always so business-like. You know what they say about all work and no play," he wagged a finger at her in what she assumed was suppose to be a playful manner. One of Ichirou's major faults was his complete lack of a sense of humour.

"That it makes Jack a dull boy. I don't know Jack so I really don't care." He looked at her in confusion. He had no clue it was a joke. She sighed heavily and wondered why anyone in their right mind would want to replicate this man's set of genes. "Can I go now, since there was nothing you wanted?" He looked like a sulking child but nodded and she left as quickly as she possibly could. She needed to find Kakashi again, have him finish his explanation that so far had just been babble about not having to do with her failing her exam.

POV

This had been what he wanted for her, he reminded himself. Settle in, marry a nice boy her own age. He wanted to smash the nice boy's face in. After he'd been able to move again he'd left Sayuri's tent and stalked to Gaara's, demanding something to do. A mission, a commando stint, a scouting excursion, anything -just something to distract him, something to make him forget.

There hadn't been anything so he'd gone to find Guy, challenge him to a fight, a strictly taijutsu one. Guy had taken one look at him and agreed with his usual vigour. Now they were facing each other in a clearing a little bit away from the camp and Guy was babbling something about not going easy on him.

He hoped not, he needed to hit something or be hit. Make the pain physical so he could comprehend it, deal with it. He nodded and in a flash Guy was on him. He'd always been fast and Kakashi sidestepped, turned. He was fighting on autopilot, blocking mostly as thoughts crowded in his mind. Narue belonged to another man. What he thought would solve his problem had only made it worse and the jealousy tore at him like a sharp clawed monster in his chest, its poison filling the aching space of his shattered heart. Without thinking he let his fist fly and heard Guy's exclamation in pain. Their fights always ended when the blow was acknowledged, not from actually letting it connect and shocked Kakashi stepped back as Guy doubled over.

"Sorry! I'm sorry" he took another step back. Guy looked up from him, the side of his lip bleeding.

"Nah, you've got a weak punch. I'll acknowledge your win, I'll get you next time. Now will you tell me what's wrong?" The problem with old friends was that they knew you too well. Kakashi turned so Guy wouldn't be able to read his face.

"What do you mean?" He heard Guy sit down behind him.

"It's in your eyes. And even if I didn't see it I'd know since you've never missed your mark in your entire life." Then Guy just sat and waited in silence. All was quiet except for a few birds chirping nearby. Kakashi reminded himself that he and Guy had been friends since they were children; they knew all of each other's secrets. Well, almost all of them. Without turning he asked,

"Guy, have you ever been in love?"

"Of course! In the springtime of youth you should pursue all your heart's desires to the fullest! Many times I've-"

"No," Kakashi interrupted quietly, "I mean the real thing." Guy was silent for a long time before he answered.

"Yes. But she wasn't for me. She was always another's."

"How did you live through it?"

"I knew she was with a good man who made her happy."

"What if he hadn't been a good man?"

"I'd've fought for her til my last breath." Kakashi almost smiled, of course he would've. He nodded,

"You're a better man than I, Guy."

"I don't know about that, Kakashi." He felt Guy's hand on his shoulder and then heard his retreating steps. He looked up at the sky, felt the sunshine warm his face and wondered if he'd ever take pleasure in small things again. He didn't know for how long he'd been standing there when he heard her steps. He still recognized them.

Without turning he heard her stop at the edge of the clearing, hesitating. She could probably read his mood even though she couldn't see his face and was probably about to leave again when he heard her exclaim,

"Dad?" He suddenly realized the birds had gone quiet and spun around.

A/N: Cliffhanger! *Evil cackle* I hope you're enjoying it so far and are staying tuned for the next chapter! / Sannikex


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Welcome back all! To clarify, pitifuldreamer666 Narue has not donated any genes yet.

He suddenly realized the birds had gone quiet and he spun around. Behind him, in between him and Narue stood Akiyama Sho, dead since sixteen years. He looked as he had the day he died, Kakashi remembered, as he'd been there, 14 years old and jonin for a year. Narue's mother had been hit first, her shield failing her due to exhaustion, she'd been trying to share it with too many at once he remembered. Minutes later the tall, proud Akiyama Sho had followed his wife. They'd won that mission and it had taught Kakashi a lesson in sacrifice and humility that he'd carry with him forever.

He would never get used to the shock of seeing people long dead reappear. Akiyama Sho was still thirty years old with hair the same colour as his daughter, still had hazel eyes and a straight nose with a slight bump from when it had broken once during a practice session. Sho turned from him when he heard his daughter and with a voice filled with pain he said her name.

"Narue. Narue you need to go, I…I can't control my own body." He doubted many people would have the mental strength to face their own father in battle but Narue just shook her head.

"No, Dad, I won't let them do this to you." Kakashi knew she hadn't faced anything but the clones and spoke clearly,

"He won't be affected by hits, we need to immobilize him and try and reach his own mind, convince him he needs to go." Narue's gaze was fastened on the shape of her father but she nodded. He hoped it would be enough, there was no Sealing Team so their only hope was that Sho would be one of the reanimations who still had a piece of his own mind.

Slowly Narue approached as Sho performed seals with astounding speed. He couldn't see him properly so he couldn't see the seals and know what jutsu he was performing but Narue didn't seem to care as she kept walking slowly towards her father. Sho let the jutsu fly and Kakashi recognized it as Wind Needles, enforced with the nature chakra he could accumulate. He winced and started towards her but her shield stopped the jutsu short.

"You don't want to do this, Dad", she said softly as she advanced. She'd reached him now and ignoring the sharp needles of air whipping around her she brought her hands up to the seal of the Ram. Kakashi saw Sho's seals get slower and slower until he was frozen in position. He went closer, held a hand out in front of him to check – as he'd guessed, Narue had increased the air density around Sho, effectively stopping him moving. He moved around to stand next to Narue, facing her father alongside her. Tears glittered in her eyes but her voice was steady when she spoke,

"Dad, you need to go. Mum is missing you." Sho's eyes cleared.

"Harumi?" he said questioningly.

"Yes, dad, she's waiting for you. You need to go to her." The older man sighed deeply and Narue let the control slip, releasing the density. Her father fell and Kakashi caught him before he hit the ground, crouched with the man he'd admired as a child in his arms. Narue kneeled next to them, took her father's hand in hers and brought it to her cheek.

"Narue, you're all grown up. You look like your mother…so beautiful." Sho turned to Kakashi. "I recognize you. You're Sakumo's son. He was a true hero."

"He was", Kakashi agreed and met Narue's gaze. She knew it had taken him time to recognize it.

"He's Kakashi, dad, remember?"

"Come closer, Kakashi," he managed and Kakashi leaned forward so only he could hear what Sho said. "I see how you look at my daughter. You love her, don't you?" Kakashi couldn't respond. No one had ever guessed the true nature of his feelings towards Narue, not even she. "You don't have to say it, I can see it since I've seen that look before. On myself - for Naure's mother." He managed a weak chuckle, "Protect her in my place, Hatake Kakashi and remember that if you hurt her I'll haunt you from the afterlife."

"I promise, sir." Then he straightened as Sho let out a sigh of relief.

"Goodbye, Cub, be good". Tears were now streaming down Narue's face.

"Yes, dad. I love you. Say hi to mum for me."

"I will." Then with a smile on his lips Akiyama Sho just faded from Kakashi's grasp.

Narue seemed to just crumble before his eyes and without thinking twice he gathered her close. Sobs wracked her whole body and cradling her close he stroked her hair. She seemed to fit there, he thought, on his lap with her head resting on his shoulder, neatly fitting under his chin. One more thing that would plague him to know, they fit together like puzzle pieces.

He didn't know for how long they sat together but slowly Narue's sobs quieted and she stilled. She dried her tears and drew a deep breath before standing up. He rose as well and she actually looked him fully in the eyes when she spoke,

"Thank you. I needed that." Then she looked away. "I hate that jutsu but at least this time I got to say goodbye." He knew the importance of goodbye himself so he just nodded. She wrapped her arms around herself as if she felt cold before looking back at him. "Before, in the tent, what were you going to say?"

He looked into the eyes he dreamed about so often, red rimmed from crying but the shield in them was gone, only the Narue he knew and loved looked back at him. Her hair was tangled where it had gotten caught on his flak jacket and she was pale as a ghost and still managed to be the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen to him. She was also not for him. She was engaged to another man, would marry him and bear his children. She would forever be out of his life. Maybe it would be for the best if she just continued hating him. She'd never contact him again. He'd never have to feel like this again, wouldn't have to see her. Wouldn't have to know. He made up his mind.

"I didn't send you because you failed, like I said. I sent you because you are an exceptional ninja and as your teacher I wanted you to learn as much as possible. I'm sorry that you couldn't settle in in the Mist but you can't deny you've improved at an extraordinary rate." The lie made his mouth taste bad.

"_Couldn't settle in_?" she said incredulously. "You sent me to a competing village! You know very well what kind of life you sent me off to!" Her voice cracked like a whip over him but a tiny part of him was still relieved. This was the Narue he remembered. "They thought I was a reject, a low-life, an excommunicate." Her voice lowered dangerously, "You know what it's like to be on the outside looking in, to be regarded as nothing. You _know_ what it feels like when people's eyes slide over you as if you're invisible. Of course then there is nothing to do but work and for the last six years I've worked for one thing and one thing only. To be called back!"

The air around her seemed charged, he could almost smell the metallic tang of it, see the sparks. But what made him really afraid was the hurt that shone behind the anger in her eyes. "I looked up to you, I thought we were friends but obviously that was wrong of me. Friends try and save each other pain, Kakashi but I don't think you've ever had enough of them to learn how to treat them!" He'd forgotten how well she aimed and almost winced as she hit that sore spot. It was true that he had few friends but he thought that only made him appreciate the few he had more. "I think the only true friend you've ever had was Obito and after he died you just didn't want to care about anyone else! Do you think you're making Obito happy by clinging on to that friendship?" Kakashi didn't get mad often, it took a lot to raise his temper but Narue had always been skilled at it. She knew him well enough to poke at old wounds and he could feel it fester now. The turmoil of emotions in him fuelled the anger and the hurt of seeing Narue again, losing her and hearing her pour venom over his bleeding wounds rolled together with the rage.

"Don't go there, Narue." If he hadn't been so mad he would have known that to bring Obito up Narue must be hurting much worse than he was. Normally she'd rather swallow her kunai than say what she knew would hurt him the most.

"No, of course, we mere mortals can't talk about him. Well, we can't all die for you to gain your friendship, Kakashi!" Now the air around her was tinged with blue and had he been his normal self he'd have backed off. Intensified nature chakra was no game. But he didn't even notice it, didn't hear the air buzzing over his own howling rage.

POV

Gaara held Sayuri's hand as they ran. A few minutes ago a sensory ninja had burst into the tent and reported a reanimated body that had somehow managed to escape detection until it was near the camp, in a clearing a little east of the outskirts of the camp. Maito Guy who had been in the tent to talk to him had spun round. Kakashi was apparently alone in that clearing. Gaara squeezed Sayuri's hand and felt her tighten her grasp in return. He didn't know if he could forgive himself if something happened to the older ninja in an area he himself had proclaimed safe.

As they were getting close Guy pointed, gesturing that he'd approach from the other side and Gaara nodded. He concentrated on the sounds coming from the clearing and sped up. The sight that greeted them made them both stop in their tracks and instinctively Gaara pushed Sayuri behind him.

Narue was standing closest to them, with her back turned and the air around her was swirling, tinged with blue and crackling with electricity. It looked almost like when Guy released his chakra gates and Gaara felt sweat break out all over his body. Guy was intimidating enough with just the chakra of his body, Narue had an unlimited supply and he doubted anyone would be able to get close without being burned to a crisp. Seemingly unaware of the danger posing Kakashi stood opposite her, looking furious. Gaara could hardly believe it, the Konoha ninja was never one for emotional outbreaks but it seemed whatever Narue had done or said had done the trick.

Over the loud buzzing in the air he could vaguely hear their voices.

"…can't all die for you to gain your friendship, Kakashi!" Next to him Sayuri's mouth formed an 'o' of surprise. "Or maybe that would have been better for you? There must have been a lot of paperwork to process for relocation; maybe we should have just gone on a mission together instead? I could have died saving you and we'd been friends for eternity." Gaara could see Kakashi's eyes darken, even from the distance and as he felt the ground start to vibrate he stepped forward.

"Enough! Kakashi!" He tried to call Kakashi to his senses, make him realize the danger he was in. But neither Kakashi nor Narue seemed to even notice he was there. The situation was getting worse and when he summoned his sand to shield him so he could approach Narue it ground through the air and pushing it even a little was an effort. He felt a trickle of fear, if his sand couldn't move they were all defenceless. Then out of nowhere Guy came flying at Kakashi and dragged him to the ground with him. Gaara turned to get Sayuri to get down when his heart froze. Sayuri was approaching Narue, her hair blowing madly in the wind.

"Narue, listen to me! You need to stop, you'll hurt someone!" His heart didn't seem to be beating as Sayuri called to Narue. But the current in the air seemed to subside a tiny bit and he could now hear Sayuri clearly. "You need to channel it, find the channels!" Narue turned from where her eyes had been fastened, on the spot where Kakashi had stood and focused on Sayuri. With what looked like tremendous effort she seemed to force the air to still. When there was no longer fury in her eyes Gaara saw fear. Narue knew the risks and he could see her struggle with herself to calm down, calm the element. Then Sayuri held out her hand and his mouth went dry. She couldn't offer to take some of the nature chakra of that charge, she'd…if Narue didn't keep exact control of it now she could seriously hurt Sayuri. He started forward when Narue fell to her knees, the effort of dampening the charge taking its toll.

"Come on, Narue, you can't do it alone!" Narue just shook her head but Sayuri pressed on. "I can take it, I promise. Just don't do this to yourself. Let me help." Narue was still on her knees, breathing heavily from the strain. Slowly she took Sayuri's offered hand and he saw the blue tinged air snake around Sayuri's wrist. At first nothing seemed to change then Sayuri started to breathe heavily. Narue started to let go but Sayuri just held on tighter, her eyes closed. The seconds seemed to drag by.

"Now!" She said suddenly and let go. Then she made seven seals in rapid succession in a jutsu he didn't recognize. She put her hand on the ground and suddenly flowers burst out all over the clearing. Gaara almost laughed, typical Sayuri. She couldn't throw a kunai if her life depended on it but she knew advanced jutsus no one else had heard of and could execute them to perfection. Narue blinked in surprise at the flowers as Sayuri helped her up. Behind the taller woman's back Sayuri gesticulated wildly at him.

He understood that she meant for him to take on Kakashi while she worked on Narue to find out what had happened to unleash such rage in both parties. Most of all he wanted to make sure Sayuri was fine but since she was walking away, almost dragging the woman who was a head taller than her along, he had to assume she was no worse for wear so he turned to where Kakashi was sitting, on the ground, surrounded by flowers. His head was bent and his knees updrawn. Guy was sitting next to him, looking as if nothing was wrong in the world. Quietly Gaara sat down on Kakashi's other side.

For several minutes all that was heard was the breeze through the flowers.

"We got a report that there was a reanimated body here?" Guy asked at length.

"Narue's father, Akiyama Sho. We got him." Kakashi's voice was rough. Guy nodded, he obviously knew of the man.

"Is that what made Narue upset?" Gaara asked carefully. She had seemed more furious than sad but despair could easily trigger rage, as he knew from personal experience.

"Maybe part of it, but I was the one who upset her." Gaara thought of the cold, impersonal way they had acted towards each other when they'd first met in the tent and how they seemed to always avoid each other except for when they didn't have a choice.

"Do you not like Narue?" Kakashi let out what sounded like a strangled chuckle and finally looked up over the meadow of flowers in a way that made Gaara think he wasn't really seeing it.

"No, I don't like her. I love her. Have, for a long time now." Gaara could only gape at him. Kakashi _was in love_ with Narue? Then it started to make sense. Six years ago Narue would have been around sixteen years old and Kakashi's student, it wouldn't have been possible for him to act on his feelings.

Gaara tried to imagine what it would feel like to have Sayuri close to him every day, hour after hour without being able to show or even hint that he was in love with her. He'd only lasted a few weeks before he and Sayuri had gotten together and Kakashi had had to put up with it for God knows how long. He could see the reasoning behind Narue's relocation clearly now, just as clearly as he could see why the kunoichi was mad. Knowing Kakashi's other students he didn't doubt Narue had liked her teacher a lot – to be relocated for such vague reasons had to feel like a betrayal.

"So that's why you asked earlier. It's been Narue all along." Guy said in wonder. "That's why you couldn't have her." He seemed to mull this over before asking, "How long?" Kakashi tugged his mask down and rubbed his hands over his face before responding,

"Seven years now." Guy let out a low whistle, to signal that that was indeed a long time, Gaara supposed. He was still getting used to people and had missed out on a few basics in human interaction on account of scaring away anyone who came close.

"She's not you student anymore," Guy said suggestively and wriggled his thick eyebrows and Kakashi let out another humourless chuckle.

"No, she's another man's."

"She has a man from the Mist? We can take him down, I'll help. We'll scare him away and-"

"She's engaged, Guy. She's getting married." Kakashi said dully and a memory sparked for Gaara. He'd gotten the dossier on Narue from the Mist when they sent her to him for Sayuri's mission. Had it been anyone else he would have hesitated before sharing another village's business but Kakashi had always been a good friend.

"It's only a formality. The Mist wants her to have a child with one of their mist affinity ninjas, for a genetic experiment," he said with distaste. He'd been one of those experiments himself. "They want to produce a possible next Mizukage. Narue is only donating her genes, there will be a surrogate mother and once the child is born the marriage will be annulled." The normally clever Kakashi seemed to take these news in slowly.

"She doesn't love him?"

"I don't know, but the marriage is for purely political reasons." Kakashi rose slowly, as if he'd just woken up.

"I need to find Narue." Guy jumped up.

"That's the spirit! Fight for your woman!" Kakashi set off as Guy kept cheering.

"How do you think it will go?" Gaara asked as he crossed his arms, wondering if Narue would listen so soon after the almost-disaster.

"I'd like to see the woman who can resist Kakashi. He's devilishly handsome, tall and well-endowed too." Gaara almost swallowed his tongue and Guy blushed.

"Er…Ah…I mean…."

A/N2: I hope you all have as fun reading this as I have writing it!


	7. Chapter 7

Narue felt little Sayuri drag her away from the clearing. She was stronger than she looked, she thought dully. Her brain felt numb and her body slow and sluggish. You deserve it, she told herself. Narue couldn't believe she'd been so close to losing control. If it had happened she could have actually hurt someone. Could have seriously hurt Kakashi. _But you already did, didn't you_? A small, evil voice said in her head. In an attempt to make him feel as terrible as she felt she'd brought up the one thing she knew would get to him. Narue felt sick at the thought. She'd actually taunted him over his dead teammate.

Sayuri suddenly stopped and pushed her down to sit on a fallen log as she sat down on the ground in front of her. It made the height difference even more pronounced and Narue felt like a giant.

"How long have you been in love with Kakashi?" Narue blinked in surprise. Not even Rei had managed to guess and she was the person who knew her best. Sayuri shrugged in response to her look, "The only thing that could make me that mad is if Gaara hurt me", she explained. Narue's shoulders slumped.

"Seven years. I've never told anyone." Sayuri's heart bled for the older kunoichi. First not being able to show your feelings, then the subject of them sent you away, as if you meant nothing. She could easily put herself in Narue's shoes - and they hurt. Sayuri nodded and asked carefully,

"What did he do?" She wasn't sure if Narue would want to talk to her. Truth to be told she still felt intimidated by Narue, the kunoichi was incredibly skilled, older and so beautiful. She shook her head, if anything what had just happened proved that you could be talented and outrageously attractive, heartache was the same for everyone.

Narue sank down from the log to lean her back against it, bringing them closer in height. Sayuri almost laughed when she recognized the same absentminded grace in Narue's movement as she'd seen in Kakashi's.

"After we came back from carrying out the mission Kakashi told me he didn't send me to the Mist because I failed. Then we were interrupted and I called him on it after…after we defeated the body of my father." Sayuri's mouth dropped open, Narue had fought her own dad? Apparently prolonged heartache could also make you stronger. "And he told me the reason he'd sent me was because I needed to train and he was _sorry_ that I couldn't _settle in_." She almost spit out the last part but Sayuri saw more hurt than anger in the thundercloud eyes of the kunoichi. "He just didn't seem to care what life was like for me in the Mist. It was…hard, but I always thought I'd get summoned back one day, that we'd be able to be friends again one day." She sighed and laid her head back against the log, closing her eyes. Her long hair was getting caught in the rough bark and Sayuri remembered thinking rather fancifully that the colour of it looked like antique gold in candlelight. She knew her own hair was the colour of the bark Narue's hair was caught in and seeing them compared made her feel dull and frumpy. Maybe she should get her hair dyed? She sighed; whatever she did she'd never look anything like Narue. With her eyes closed, pale from exhaustion and her hair spread around her she looked like a variation of the picture of a sleeping princess in a fairy tale. Yes, more princess than queen now when the ice armour she'd worn was down. All that was missing was the prince kneeling to kiss her awake and she thought Kakashi could fill the role splendidly with his tall build and handsome face.

Except Kakashi seemed uncharacteristically cold when it came to his former student. What Narue had told her didn't match the Kakashi she knew who was considerate and loyal to a fault to his friends. Who'd make sure Sayuri ate because a friend asked him, who'd put his life on the line in a heartbeat to spare others pain. Who'd smile his happy hedgehog smile when he greeted you and who from what she knew cared deeply for his students. It just didn't match with his unfeeling demeanour towards Narue.

"So you were friends, then? When he was your teacher?" Narue's mouth curved upwards in a wry smile.

"Sure. Since I was thirteen. I'm probably the person who knows him best. He was more of a private tutor since two out of three in his team failed the chunin exam. So we spent a lot of time together, just the two of us. At first it was more of an excited-puppy-and-teacher relationship but as time passed we got closer. I realized Kakashi was only human after all and he stopped seeing me as an annoying brat with too many questions. So, yes we were friends. Or so I thought anyway."

"When did you fall in in love with him?"

"My sixteenth birthday."

Seven Years Earlier

Everyone she knew was there, except for one, couldn't that be enough? Narue shook her head, Kakashi-sensei was on a mission and had been gone the better part of the week. He'd said he'd try to make it back but wasn't sure if he could make it to her party.

_All your friends are here_, she reminded herself and smiled as she saw Rei and Jin sneak away, hands joined and shared laughter in their eyes. They were off to find a corner to make out in, no doubt. She caught Rei's eye and mouthed 'not my room' to which Rei responded by sticking her tongue out but Narue knew she'd probably drag Jin outside. Her friends had already been together for two years but seemed to never tire of one another. They had a big fight at least once a week and had recently, Rei confided, discovered make-up sex. Narue smiled to herself but couldn't help feeling a bit sad. The older they got the more things were going to change between them. Rei and Jin had a shared life she couldn't be part of anymore and she felt a sting of jealousy. What was wrong with her today? It was her sixteenth birthday, her aunt had allowed her to have a party in the house and had given her the new dress she was wearing. She had nothing to be mopey about.

Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror she admired her new dress. Her aunt had finally deemed her old enough for a dress with a bit of a deeper neckline and she admired the tiny bit of cleavage that could be hinted. The dress was in a deep blue velvet and long-sleeved, fitted to the waist before flaring over her hips and skimming mid-thigh. For the occasion her aunt had lent her some blush and mascara, helped her with her hair. All in all Narue thought she'd never looked better and felt so grown-up. From the admiring glances of her classmates she knew she looked pretty which was always balm on any pubescent soul.

Although she had to admit her problems with looks was probably very different from those of her fellow teenagers. She'd developed early and had been confused by men's sudden change in behaviour towards her when she turned fourteen. They'd hinted at things she had no knowledge of and looked at her in a way she didn't understand. To politely refuse advances when you had no clue what they were after was a tricky business.

Nowadays she was used to it and barely noticed men's heads turning when she walked past, something that before would have made her blush and wonder if she'd accidentally put her underwear on top of her clothes. But today she was happy to look good, it was her party and her friends and she'd wanted to look nice. Especially if Kakashi-sensei came. Without paying attention to why she'd want him to like her dress she went to join her friends who were discussing one of the more hated teachers at the Academy.

It was late before Narue went upstairs to go to bed, another gift from her aunt - postponed bedtime. She opened the door to her room and almost jumped out of her skin. Someone was already in there. She was about to yell at Rei and Jin, tell them to find somewhere far from her room to make out (or worse) in when she recognized the tall shape of her teacher.

"Kakashi-sensei?" She turned on the light and saw that her window was open and that he was on his way out of it. "What are you doing here?" He ducked back in and tugged down his mask, smiled at her. He wasn't wearing his normal uniform of flak jacket with dark shirt and pants and she realized he must've dressed up for her party. Her heart did something funny in her chest as she took in the dress shirt and trousers.

"I came to drop this off." He pointed to a package on her desk the size of a half a shoebox. "I was coming to the party but I saw you and your aunt cleaning up and didn't want to disturb you, so…sorry I'm late." He looked vaguely embarrassed and she found it adorable.

"That's okay. I'm glad you came."

"Wouldn't miss it." She walked closer to her desk and caught his scent. He must have just showered and for some reason her pulse started beating faster. She had the craziest urge to…taste him? _What_ was wrong with her today? "You look nice," he said, "is that a new dress?" She nodded,

"Yes, my aunt gave it to me."

"Looks good. You look almost grown up." For some reason the off-hand, almost brotherly tone annoyed her. Stop being weird, she told herself; hadn't she wanted Kakashi to like her dress? To distract herself she looked down at the gift. It was hastily wrapped but had a cheery, yellow bow and a card with a stupidly grinning penguin on stuck to it. She opened the card and recognized his lazy writing,

"Happy Sixteenth Birthday, Narue, From Your Friend, Kakashi"

"It reminded me of you."

"I remind you of a penguin?"

"Yes, you waddle around and you can't fly and I know you collect pebbles in your spare time," he teased and she swatted him with the card. He laughed, "No, it looked happy to see me. You always look happy to see me, it's one of my favourite things about you." She tried to take it as the compliment she knew it was meant to be, Kakashi was just sometimes a bit too blunt. So she shrugged and teased him back,

"I'm a good actress. No one else in the village would do it so to hang out with you is my burden to bear." He snorted and plopped down on her bed. For some reason it made her heart do the weird thing again. She put the card down and started tugging at the wrapping and as she unwrapped the last layer, she gasped,

"It's…How did you find this?" Standing on her desk was her mother's most prized possession; a jewellery box Narue's father had made her as a wedding gift. Her aunt hadn't known and had unwittingly sold it after her parents died. It was the one thing of her mother's she had desperately wanted to keep. She remembered playing with the pretty things inside as her mother told her the story of how she'd met Narue's dad.

"Followed it, finally found it in a small village and the lady who had it gave it to me for free after I told her about you." Narue felt tears prickle in her eyes but they didn't embarrass her. If there was one person who knew what it would mean to have something tangible to remember your parents by it was Kakashi-sensei.

"I…I can't believe you found it. Thank you." He shrugged and smiled,

"Took me the better part of a week, I wasn't sure I'd make it back in time." That's when it happened. Everything inside her lit up, it felt as if a door had been thrown wide open and light was streaming in, a storm of new emotions whirling through her. And with a soft thud, her heart landed on the floor in front of him. He'd spent almost a week finding her birthday gift because he knew it was important to her and had then worried about missing her silly party. He knew her better than anyone and had gone through so much trouble for her. In a moment friendship had turned to love.

"I'm glad you did." She wasn't sure her voice would sound normal when she felt so different from before but it sounded as usual, oddly enough.

"Me too. Happy birthday, Narue." He got up and she met him, putting her arms around in a hug, as she must have done hundreds of times before. But now it was different. Her heart beat unevenly against her ribcage and her limbs felt weak from nervousness. She was intensely aware of how he felt and the fact that if she turned her head a little she could press her lips against the point in his throat where his pulse beat.

Quickly she let go and stepped back, feeling like laughing and crying at the same time. Laughing because the feelings rushing through her felt like the bubbles in the champagne her aunt had let her taste for the first time. Crying because she knew nothing would ever be the same again, never as simple, knowing she was no longer a child. Kakashi-sensei climbed out the window in his agile way and she heard him call goodnight before he was off.

She sunk down on her bed and looked at it accusingly – it didn't feel the same either, not after the new Kakashi-sensei had sat on it. The Kakashi-sensei who made her heart beat faster and slower, who made her feel both like laughing and crying. The one who didn't feel like her teacher but like a man.

"Kakashi." She tried out his name without the suffix. It sounded strange to her ears but that only seemed fitting. A new name for a new man. A name for the man she was in love with.

Present

"Then, about two weeks later, that first innocent love was…intensified, I guess you could call it. I was a bit late to discover it but then lust entered into the mix and I was basically screwed. I don't know if it was that I couldn't have him but I've never wanted any other man the same way. It was crazy, this all-consuming attraction. He used to be able to set me on fire just by looking at me, I'd swear I could feel his hands on me and wish he'd just press me up the nearest wall and-" Narue seemed to realize what she was saying and blushed. They barely knew each other after all.

"I know what you mean." Narue relaxed and ran a hand through her hair.

"The madness lasted my whole last year in Konoha before he sent me off."

Sayuri furrowed her brow. She was confused. If Kakashi had liked Narue, been her friend and gone out of his way to make her happy, why would he send her away without a second thought, stay out of contact and basically pretend Narue didn't exist anymore? What could have made him change his mind so drastically?

A man who spent almost a week looking for a birthday gift for a girl she'd say probably liked the girl more than a friend.

Suddenly it struck her – of course! Kakashi must have _liked Narue as well_. Seven years ago the age difference would have been perceived as greater, sixteen to twenty-four was a considerable gap and teacher-student relationships were strictly forbidden by the Rules, Kakashi could have lost his rank and Narue could have been thrown out of training.

Knowing the older Konoha ninja she was fairly sure he was afraid of once again being shunned by society but would probably be able to face that – but not anything happening to Narue.

Sayuri almost laughed in relief, even though there was nothing funny about two people she cared about being in pain. For however well they claimed to know one another they hadn't been able to see the trees for the forest. They hadn't seen the other's feelings. She was about to say this when she caught herself. It really wasn't her place to tell Kakashi's secrets, besides she wasn't even sure she was right. But Kakashi would have to tell her himself, she was sure of that much. They couldn't go through life disappointed in each other.

"Let's go back," she said and Narue nodded before getting up. Then they were interrupted by Kakashi's voice.

"Narue." He was standing a few metres off and Narue cursed herself for not paying attention.

"Oh, look at the sun! Is that the time? Have to go!" Sayuri hurried off. The two of them needed to sort this out themselves. She glanced back a last time and her heart gave a sigh – they'd make such a stunning couple if they could only be honest with each other.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Hi, I haven't given up on this story, I've just been unsure where I want it to go as well as being EXTREMELY busy. So I'm sorry this chapter is short, I just wanted to get something updated before you all thought I'd dropped off a cliff. I hope you'll enjoy it anyway.

The second he was away from the meadow Sayuri had created Kakashi summoned Pakkun. The little pug had barely appeared before he said,

"I need you to find Narue."

"Narue? She's in the Mist, isn't she?" Then he sniffed in the air. "No, wait, I can smell her. All grown up isn't she?" He kept sniffing "And dangerous too. Guess she could train without you, hmm?"

"Will you just take me to her?" he snapped. He wasn't entirely sure but he thought Pakkun might know of how he felt for Narue, something to do with his sense of smell and pheromones. Pakkun did a doggy shrug at his tone and set off.

As he ran the memory of how he'd realized he was in love with Narue played in his mind.

It had been a few days after he'd realized she wasn't a child any longer by falling on top of her and embarrassing himself thoroughly. He hadn't been sleeping well, every time he closed his eyes he saw Narue and when he eventually fell asleep he dreamt of her. Dreamt of her in a way that made him blush just to think about it in daylight. He'd never been so grateful for his mask as those awkward days. He could barely look her in the eyes when they met, afraid she'd see the want in his. He couldn't believe that after all the time he'd spent cursing the men who gawped at Narue since she was too young to fully understand it he now suddenly envied the ability to stare openly.

They had been lying in the grass in the middle of the exam stadium, taking a break from training for the jonin exam. It had been a cloudy, muggy day and oppressing air and the physical exertion had made them both sweaty and tired. Narue had been lying on her side, her head propped on her hand as her free hand was playing with a small flower growing in the grass. He'd been covertly admiring the deep valley of her waist, wondering if he'd be able to reach around it with his hands, imagining how silky the skin would be if he ran his hand down the curve.

Then suddenly the skies had opened and rain had pounded down. He'd jumped up to get under cover but Narue had only flopped on her back, laughing loudly. It had been so typical of her and suddenly she was just Narue again. The week-of-heated-dreams-Narue was instantly combined with the Narue who had always been his friend, who had convinced the Hokage to put his father's name on the Stone, who was funny, strong and clever and who laughed when she was caught in the rain. The picture of the two Narues became one, the Narue he was in love with. Struck by the realization he'd sunk down again. Laid down on the sopping ground as well. He'd felt the rain beating down on him like a wave crashing over sand. It was soothing and relaxing somehow to give in to the fury of the elements. The drops seemed to cool the heated punch of the realization. He'd stayed there on the ground after Narue had left, soaked and with her eyes sparkling, wringing her long hair as she went. He had laid there, soaked to the skin, staring up at the sky as the grey clouds were defeated by the sun.

In a way he'd felt as refreshed as the day after the rain, with a crisp blue sky and a fresh smell from the grass. He didn't feel as dirty anymore; he'd been fried of the carnal prison he'd been trapped in for the last week. Narue was herself again to him, except for now she was more. Narue, the girl he loved. The thought had rolled in his head, back and forth. The girl he loved. He'd longed to feel the bond he'd sensed between so many others and here it was, nothing like he had imagined. It felt a little bit like you were tied to the other person by an invisible chain, their destiny woven into yours. He suddenly realized just how alone his father must have felt after his mother had died. All the clichés of not sleeping or eating made sense, what else could you need except for the high of being with the person you felt this for? He smiled ironically at himself; love did make you rather moronic.

The fact that he had realized his feelings helped little however. Student-teacher relationships were strictly forbidden and harshly punished. Any teacher who was involved with a student couldn't judge them impartially it was thought and both parties could lose their rank.

Well, Narue had a jonin exam coming up; she couldn't be his student forever. With a smile he got up and walked out of the stadium.

He'd been naïve then, thinking just because Narue passed an exam she'd be his student any less. People would remember and her jonin status would probably be doubted, if not revoked, if they had anything more than strictly professional business to do with each other after her exam. Not to mention the stigma that would be attached to them with such an age difference. So he'd sent her away, saving her pain, he'd thought but had actually only caused her more.

Pakkun grunted to signify getting close and he suddenly saw her. She and Sayuri had been sitting on the ground were just getting up to leave.

"Narue." She turned and Sayuri babbled something about the time before rushing off. Narue looked at him warily when Pakkun peeked out from behind his legs. The transformation was instant as Narue lit up, fell to her knees and opened her arms,

"Pakkun!" The little pug happily bounded over and jumped into Narue's waiting arms, his tail wagging. For some reason Pakkun had always behaved more like a pet dog around Narue, seemingly happy to have her scratch his belly and sit on her lap. He did so now as he glanced smugly at Kakashi, as Narue scratched him behind one ear. He told himself it was absolutely ridiculous to be jealous of a dog but he knew that he wished Narue would greet him as uninhibitedly, eyes lighting up and throwing her arms open.

"Pakkun, go home. I need to talk to Narue." He knew he'd have to make up for his snapping at the dog later but at the moment he didn't really care. With an insulted sniff Pakkun disappeared. Still kneeling, Narue's arms fell to her sides as her gaze met his. She looked tired but there was a defiant glint in the dark grey depths. He approached her and kneeled in front of her, pushed off his forehead protector and tugged down his mask. He didn't want to be a ninja now anyway, just himself. He wanted her to be able to see he wasn't lying, wanted to see her fully.

"Narue, I'm going to try this again. But I won't lie this time. You know me, look me in the eye and see that this is the honest truth." He could see her steeling herself for another showdown but she did as he asked and met his gaze. "The reason I sent you to the Hidden Mist was…" He'd never imagined it would be so hard to tell her the truth, had thought it would be a weight he'd be eager to shed. "That I…" He desperately wanted to look away, break the contact of her searching eyes. "That I fell in love with you and I simply couldn't handle not showing it any longer." He saw her eyes widen in surprise and took the chance, as she seemed too shocked for words, to continue, "I tried to fight it, I denied it and lied to myself but the truth is, I loved you and I couldn't do anything about it. If I hadn't sent you away I'd've cracked under the pressure one day and done something unforgivable. You know the Rules, they would have taken your jonin status, tossed you out. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself." The first words she said in response he'd never expected.

"You're such an idiot, Kakashi." He blinked in surprise. "Do you think I'd've cared about my ninja status if I had you? I would have gone to the end of the world if you asked me to; giving up some title I wouldn't have given a second thought. I loved you with every fibre of my being. If you'd so much as breathed a word of how you'd felt I would have faced anything they could've thrown at me." Everything inside Kakashi was churning as he heard Narue tell him she'd loved him like he'd loved her. "Hell, even if you hadn't I figured I'd give you a few years, graduate, before confessing and hopefully getting you. Then you sent me away and it broke my heart that I didn't mean enough to you for you to let me stay." He suddenly understood her absolute rage towards him earlier. If their situations had been reversed he didn't know what he'd done.

"I thought I'd be able to get over you if you left, I'm so sorry that I-" She interrupted him,

"-Thought?" He didn't know what she was getting at. "You said you _thought_ you'd be able to get over me – as in you haven't?" Her eyes were wide and her back ramrod straight, still kneeling in front of him. The silence stretched before Kakashi gave in – in for a dime he thought,

"Thought."

"When you sent me away you broke my heart."

"I only did it cause I thought it would be best for you. I wanted you to have a normal life. I'd never…if I…"

"I know. If you'd sent me away knowing I loved you you would have been a real asshole." She nervously plucked at a strand of her long hair.

"Can't we just…start over? We're both jonin now, out of Konoha." She smiled sadly as she looked away.

"I don't know, Kakashi. It's been six years of having my heart broken every day that I didn't get called back. I'm not going to be able to just forget that."

"Please, Narue, let's just…forget the past."

"Forget? Kakashi, it's been _six_ years. We've both changed. You don't know me anymore. I don't know who you are anymore. We can't just pretend nothing happened, it would be a lie." With a sigh she got up and Kakashi watched her leave.

A/N2: He did it! I can't believe he finally did it! *happy dance*. We'll see how it goes now that it's all in the open…


	9. Chapter 9

Narue impatiently wiped her tears with the back of her hand. How was she supposed to deal with all the emotions playing tug-of-war inside her? She was still drained from her outbreak, scared to think of the results it could have had. Sad from seeing her father again, yet relieved that she had gotten to say goodbye to him. Stunned by Kakashi's revelation and her response to it. He'd loved her. Had wanted to protect her to the best of his ability. It must have cost him. She felt her insides soften at the thought. No, she stood up straighter, he couldn't justify all the pain she'd endured through explaining the reason. However noble it had been it had put her through hell. He could've talked to her. That was the crux of it – if he'd only treated her like an adult and talked to her they could have solved the problem together somehow. Although admitting your feelings to your student when you didn't know they were returned had to be a daunting thought. She groaned – all her thoughts were running in circles, she came up with an excuse for him and herself and then immediately rejected it.

A part of her wanted nothing more than to rush back and throw herself into his arms and forget the past six years and focus on the future, a future she could share with him. There was no doubt in her mind that she was still in love with Kakashi, no matter how hard she had tried to lie to herself. And here was a chance for another go, a new beginning. The other part was drawing back, a hard shell protecting its soft insides as they curled up to protect the most vulnerable parts.

In a way, when he'd explained his reasons, she had lost her protection, as if she'd been stripped of the armor, leaving her raw and tender. She no longer had the self-righteous anger for him that she had wrapped herself in, the seductive coat of self-pity shielding her from her true feelings for Kakashi. In frustration she let her head fall back and she looked up at the stars. She hadn't even noticed evening was falling.

POV

Kakashi watched her leave and was about to follow her when he stopped himself. What could he say that he hadn't already said? He'd poured his heart out and she had walked away. He had lost her once, he would survive this as well. He wasn't sure he wanted to survive it. She'd said she had loved him once, there must be a chance, however small, that she could learn to again. Guy's voice echoed in his head… _I'd've fought for her 'til my last breath_. His friend said a lot of corny things but he had heard the sincerity of the statement. It was his turn now; he had to fight this time. So far all he had done was cause her grief, it was time to change that. With determination burning in his chest Kakashi got to work.

In twenty minutes he was done and went in search for Narue. He could easily follow her tracks in the dewy grass. He found her in a little glade, standing in the middle of it with her head thrown back, her long hair streaming down her back and her face ethereally beautiful in the starlight. His breath caught in his throat and he had to clear it before calling her name.

POV

"Narue." She turned. He still hadn't put his mask back on and her heart skipped a beat. He was beautiful. He always had been but for some reason the distance between them now only seemed to underline it. A beautiful stranger. "Narue, you were right. We're different people now and we can't ignore that six years we spent apart. They've shaped me as I can see they've changed you. But I…I just want to get to know you again. Be your friend if you can't accept me as more. So would you please go on a date with me?" He rushed out the last sentence and when she just stood, too shocked for words he awkwardly pushed his hand through his unruly hair. He looked ten years younger in his discomfort.

"I…A date?"

"Yes."

"Right now?"

"Yes." He held out his hand and with a smile Narue accepted. It just felt right, no more overthinking, analyzing hows and whys, ignoring the lost ifs. This was just the two of them in the now, escaping the reality of war for a stolen moment. He led her to the clearing they had just been in and as they reached it she gasped. She knew he had a bit of a grasp on fire element jutsus but she'd never seen this particular one before. The clearing was filled with tiny flickering flames, slightly larger than burning candles and they bathed the ground in a golden light. He'd procured the "in field blanket" all shinobi carried on a storage scroll for missions and spread it on the ground between the massive roots of an enormous tree so it would cradle them protectively. On top of the blanket sat the ration bags of food also from the scroll and a small bouquet of wild flowers. She turned to meet his searching eyes and smiled,

"It's beautiful, Kakashi." He smiled back, the way she remembered from all those years ago, his eyes narrowing charmingly. He led her to the blanket and they sat down. Suddenly at a loss for words Narue picked up the small spray of flowers. The edges were even and she realized he'd used his kunai to cut the stems. She smiled to herself; he was ever the practical ninja, wasn't he? He probably used his Lightning Edge to pop popcorn and water jutsus to shower on missions. She snorted and he looked up. She explained her thoughts and for a moment he was quiet and she wondered if they'd lost the tone in the years that had passed, the easy teasing that had been natural then. But then he threw back his head and laughed. With the ice broken it seemed easy to get back to their old ways and as the night deepened around them they finished the field rations of food and forgot all about time passing.

Kakashi finished a story of his latest set of students and Narue tilted her head.

"You really like him, don't you? The nine-tail host? This Naruto boy." Kakashi was leaning against the tree trunk with his legs drawn up and his arms resting on top of his knees as he fiddled with a straw of grass.

"Yes, I do. I think you will too if you meet him. He's brave, loyal and tremendously dedicated – all in his own way."

"You still don't seem only happy when you talk about him. Why?" Kakashi gave her a slanted smile.

"You always did read me easily, mask or no." He sighed and tossed the straw away. "It's Naruto's teammate, Sasuke, my biggest failure who troubles me the most. He…he should have been the one I felt kindred with. He has the Sharingan, is related to Obito, and always has been a prodigy, very aloof in his manner. Yet…I failed to understand what was really in his heart, couldn't help him. He's…gone now." Narue didn't ask but grasped from the way he said it he didn't mean this Sasuke was dead.

"And Naruto he is…loyal to a fault. He refuses to believe Sasuke is truly lost. I failed them both just like I failed the third party member, Sakura. I didn't see her potential, was always caught up in the struggles of the boys. I just think I did a really poor teaching job there."

"I'm sure you didn't. Speaking as a former student of yours I can vouch for your teaching abilities. You've never done anything less than your best for your students. Or anyone for that matter, that's one of your best features, Kakashi. You can be as aloof as you want, you still can't hide the fact that you _care_. You're always there when it counts." She leaned closer and put her hand comfortingly on his shoulder. Kakashi drew a sharp breath; it was the first time Narue had touched him willingly in six years. "Teaching does not mean babysitting, it means standing by and guiding and I'm sure that these children had problems too big for you to shoulder for them, Kakashi." He was silent for a long time.

"You always were clever for someone with your looks." He said teasingly and she caught the signal – thank you, I feel better.

"Well, since you're so unfortunate in both looks and smarts I'm not sure your theory holds."

"Unfortunate? You know sometimes-" He snorted and met her gaze. Suddenly the space between them seemed to have closed and the air seemed to still. Narue hardly dared breathing as the tension built. Still she couldn't let go of his gaze.

"Maybe…Maybe we should head back…Cause I…." She seemed to have lost her words and whenever she tried to construct a coherent thought her brain was distracted by his eyes, his smell, the heat radiating from his body. He shifted so he was kneeling in front of her.

"Yes, we should…Narue, I don't think I can do this just friends deal. I know what I said but…I'm still in love with you. I've tried to change it but for me it's always been you. Always will be."

"Good," she breathed before grabbing the front of his shirt, pulling him closer and pressing her lips to his.

Lightning seemed to strike in his head and any fantasy he'd ever had about this moment paled in comparison. The taste of her seemed like water after a run in the desert and her scent crashed into his senses. Of their own accord, which was good because Kakashi didn't think he could even form the thought to will them, his hands found her waist, pulled her closer, dragged her as if she weighed nothing to straddle him. When her long legs closed around his waist he forgot to breathe. In this situation oxygen seemed grossly overrated anyway. Her hands were running through his hair, sending little electrical shocks of pleasure to his core. He let his own hands roam and couldn't hold back a groan as they travelled down from her waist, over the swell of hips and reached the bare skin of her legs. Running his hands slowly back up again, bunching the fabric of her skirt as he went he heard her moan and with an easy move he held onto her waist and lowered her to the ground. Her hair spilled around her in waves of spun gold and he ran his hand over the length of it. She sighed his name and he almost lost all self-control.

POV

Narue felt as if she was regaining consciousness. No previous experience had come close to this. It had been…mind-blowing, she decided with a grin. Both times.

Slowly she sat up and admired the view. Kakashi was stretched out like he'd been hit over the head and his tall, lean form was a sight for sore eyes. He was still wearing his trousers, slung low on his narrow hips but was naked from the waist up. Appreciatively she let her eyes trail over his muscular back, still slick with sweat, to his unruly silver hair, messier than ever. She winced a little as she saw the marks of her nails down his shoulders. She had no recollection of how they ended up there, just knew she'd felt as if she were caught in a thunderstorm, all electricity and charged expectation before lightening had hit, wiping out everything but Kakashi whispering her name in her ear.

Narue guessed seven years of pent up sexual frustration and want had just come crashing down over them, but god she wished it would be like this every time from now on. Although she wasn't sure they'd survive it.

She was still wearing her dress but her underwear was gone, she thought she vaguely remembered the sound of him ripping them off. Oh well, that was a price she was willing to pay.

Slowly Kakashi seemed to be coming around and with a sigh he turned over and saw her.

"Hi," she said, not really knowing what she wanted to say.

"Hi," he responded and pushed himself up to stand, holding out a hand for her. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. He grabbed his shirt and pulled it on as her stomach did a little dip at the sight of the tight muscles low in his abdomen. God, she was worse than she'd been before. He held out a hand and shyly she took it. For heaven's sake, the man's hands had been over every centimetre of her body as hers had been over his, why was she shy about holding his hand?

Slowly they started walking back towards camp, the sun setting in the sky. Narue calculated they'd gotten about 200 metres before their eyes had met, she'd seen his darken before he'd pushed her up the closest tree.

Her legs were shaking and the night was dark when they finally reached the camp. All she could think of was sleep, collapsing on the nearest flat surface and sleep for a decade or two. It seemed fate had other plans as a ninja appeared before them.

"The Kazekage would like a word with both of you." Narue and Kakashi exchanged a look of shared longing for a bed - to sleep in - before nodding their assent and heading towards the Commander's tent.

A/N: Hope you all liked it ;)


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Long time, no see. As usual, sorry for the wait.

Gaara looked up from the papers spread in front of him when the couple entered and he almost gave a sigh of relief. It looked like the two shinobi had managed to sort things out between them. They weren't holding hands or staring googly eyed at each other (a side effect, he knew, as he'd caught himself doing it with Sayuri) but their whole demeanour towards each other had changed. They seemed at ease with one another and reminded him of nothing more than a pair of cats. Sleek and proud, one silver and one gold they seemed to lounge in place, lazy and graceful.

"There you are. A new plan is in the making," he inclined his head towards the private section of his tent where Sayuri was sitting cross-legged on his bed, pouring over some old tome. "We're still waiting for the others."

POV

Narue felt extremely tired and elated at the same time. The day had started after a close to unconscious black-out then an emotional rollercoaster had followed, seeing the body of her father, the outburst after Kakashi lied to her, the confession, the date and then…well, what had been destined to happen for several years. Yet, here they were, sitting on uncomfortable chairs in the Kazekage's office, awaiting mission orders. She became intensely aware she had been unable to find her underwear and shifted in her chair. Her dress was long enough to hide this fact but sitting in your superior's office without them felt ridiculous. She caught an amused glance from Kakashi telling her he knew exactly what she was thinking. She pulled a face at him and he looked away with a laugh disguised as a cough.

The tent was warm and the light soft and Narue could feel her eyelids getting heavier. Considering she didn't know when the next time she'd get a chance to rest would be, Narue let her eyes close. She didn't know how long she'd been dozing when the sound of someone entering the tent woke her. Slowly she blinked and met the surprised gaze of pale green eyes. A girl a few years younger than herself with bright pink hair framing a pretty face was staring openly and Narue realized the cause. Kakashi had forgotten to don his mask again after their "date" and he was currently fast asleep, his head resting on Narue's shoulder. Gently she nudged him and he sat up automatically, running a hand through his hair. As if by reflex he pulled up the mask and the girl seemed to wake from her stupor.

"Sakura, come meet Narue. Narue, this is Haruno Sakura, from my latest team. Sakura, meet Akiyama Narue, my…" Narue couldn't help but lift her eyebrow at him for the hesitation, "former student", he finished decisively, carefully avoiding meeting her glance. The girl stepped forward.

"It's nice to meet you," the girl, Sakura, said and Narue could see politely disguised curiosity mixed with the slightly sharp evaluative look many women gave her. She had realized long ago it had little to do with her behaviour; it was just a natural female response to her looks. Very few women did not feel threatened by it she knew, a strange sensation as she regarded her looks to be of little significance for her person. Still, there was not a trace of jealousy in the pale green depths and she was relieved to note not all of Kakashi's students fell for him. So she smiled at the girl,

"And you. Kakashi tells me you're a skilled medical ninja, I'll be glad to have you on the mission." Sakura looked a bit surprised. She probably had never heard Kakashi mention any Narue before. Before she could reply another person entered the tent. He wasn't very tall, probably the same height as Gaara, with blond, unruly hair and deep blue eyes. He was dressed in bold orange and his face was animated with excitement. He was talking a million miles a minute with a boy with brown hair. As he spotted the group in the tent he stopped and smiled widely in greeting.

"Kakashi-sensei!" So this was the famous Naruto, Kakashi's favourite and troublemaker and hero rolled into one. Inexplicably, if it was because they shared the experience of growing up without the security of parents, or had powers beyond their own control or if it was simply because of Kakashi's high regard for him she didn't know but she felt and immediate connection to him.

"Naruto." She didn't know if anyone but her could hear it but from years of experience she heard the undertones of warmth and respect in Kakashi's voice. That was no small feat; she knew that too from experience. "Kiba." He greeted the other boy who had entered and he flashed a smile, showing sharp canines.

POV

Kakashi didn't think Narue noticed anymore but both Naruto and Kiba stopped dead in their tracks when they spotted her. Naruto's look was both curious and openly admiring whereas Kiba started out with a once-over followed by a calculating glint in his eye. Then his nose twitched and he met Kakashi's eyes before flashing an appreciative smile. No doubt Kiba could smell him and Narue all over each other. He doubted Naruto had sensed anything; he was often slightly obtuse about things right in front of him. Also, considering his lack of diplomacy he would have probably bluntly congratulated Kakashi there and then.

Next Hinata arrived, with a shy greeting she slipped in and stood casting sideways glances at Naruto. Guy followed her and he entered in his usual boisterous manner. First he met Kakashi's eyes and when he gave a tiny nod to signal all was well Guy kicked up the noise another level. With a big laugh he grabbed Narue by the waist and spun her before putting her down and kissing the back of her hand, telling her she was more beautiful than ever. Narue took his antics in good stride, replying that it was nice to see him too. No one mentioned they'd seen each other earlier that day when he had possibly saved Kakashi's life. In Guy's world the past was forgotten.

The last to arrive were Temari and Shikamaru, he with his hands in his pockets and she with her arms crossed over her chest. They always looked like they were either about to or just had argued. He wondered if they realized the sexual tension hovering between them or if they were still oblivious and just fought to ease a frustration they hadn't put into words. He hoped they'd realize and do something about it, put their surroundings out of their misery. Also, having recently discovered the release of long held sexual tension he was all for it.

"I think we're all here." Gaara suddenly spoke and the tent grew quiet. "First of all, this is a meeting I have called without the knowledge of the HQ. They have the same information we do but they have yet to act and time is of the essence. We could be close to a breakthrough if we succeed in this. If anyone wants to leave now, you may." Nobody moved. Everyone was beyond despair at the way the war had been going, if this was a chance to even the field if just a little, they were all in. "Sayuri, go ahead." The small brunette stood and somewhat shyly looked around the tent.

"Everyone, last night we sealed a body with the first useful trace back to Kabuto Yakushi. It's not too much to go on but a test of the mud on the shoes of the body showed a type of clay not found here. It is however common in the province next to us. We have reason to believe that we know the area where he is hiding and controlling the bodies. We can no longer keep treating the disease, we need to go for the cure. We're going to get to the root of the problem." Sayuri swallowed nervously. "We're going for Kabuto. From what I understand of the jutsu", she gestured towards the heaps of books, "it needs someone to steer the bodies, like a puppeteer. If you take away the master the puppets go as well." She looked up to meet the eyes of the group gathered in front of her. "We know he has taken over parts of Orochimaru but we don't know exactly how strong he is. Extreme caution is urged. As we all know he has immensely powerful ninjas literally at his fingertips." Sayuri hesitated but everyone had to realize the risks of this mission. "And if one of you is…taken down he could use you against your allies." No one uttered a word but Kakashi couldn't help letting his eyes sweep over the ninjas in the tent. They could be living on borrowed time already. He swallowed, he had fought familiar bodies but he didn't know if he could face taking down Naruto, Sakura or…Narue. Imperceptibly he inched closer to her, as to shield her though no foe was in the tent. "Shikamaru, do you have ideas for how to best divide the team?" Shikamaru nodded,

"Are you coming with us, Sayuri?"

"No," Gaara said before she could reply. "Sayuri is to our best advantage here." Sayuri looked down but nodded in agreement.

"And I suppose we are chosen because we all more or less know each other and have worked on missions together before?"

"Yes," Gaara responded.

"Then I can only conclude that it is best we keep team formations as far as possible and practical. That means, Kiba, Hinata, you two are on sensory duty to find Kabuto. You don't enter the fight unless absolutely necessary. If anything goes wrong you're in charge of getting us out. Clear?" Kiba made a face as to protest but apparently sensed the gravity of the situation and nodded. Hinata agreed with something fiercely protective in her pale eyes.

"The long distance unit will be myself, Gaara and Temari, it will be our job to capture Kabuto. It will fall on the intermediate and short distance to kill him. Close distance will be Naruto, Guy-sensei and Sakura. Sakura, as our only med-nin needs to stay out of it as much as possible but we're too few to risk not having her in the fight. Kakashi and Akiyama-san will be on intermediate range." Kakashi was relieved to be on the same unit as Narue, it meant he could protect her should anything go wrong. And so much could go wrong. Even Shikamaru had only been able to come up with a strategy that just involved going up against their enemy. No tricks, no back-ups. They had one try and if they didn't succeed…they would not get another chance. Gaara's voice sounded even gruffer than usual when he spoke,

"We meet here after gathering our supplies, then we leave just before dawn." Everyone nodded and in silence left the tent. Quietly Kakashi and Narue made their way towards the supply tent since they had finished Kakashi's ration bags earlier in the evening. When they reached it he held the flap open for her and she entered the dark tent.

"Why do they allow Naruto to fight when he is the main target in the war?" Kakashi smiled behind his mask.

"They couldn't stop him." He sought her gaze in the almost complete darkness. "He was on a protected island, hidden away. But he couldn't stand the thought of his comrades dying for him so he escaped. In the end he had to threaten to turn himself over to Madara to end the war quicker before they let him fight." He could almost hear her thinking.

"That's rash and stupid." She sighed. "And very brave and kind. I know where he is coming from."

"I knew you'd like him."

"You know everything about me, huh?" He heard the smile in her voice.

"I used to." The smile in her voice died.

"I know. I wish we had time to…to get to know each other again. This war is one man's insanity and it's keeping me from you. Do you…" He heard her sit down on a pile of crates, felt the heat of her body move away and leave him unnaturally cold. He shivered. "Do you think we're just caught up in it? The excitement of the war and of seeing each other for the first time in so long? That if we survive this we'll be tangled up and end up hating each other for not seeing it for what it was right away?" He was about to admonish her when he realized she was right. There was no way of knowing if he would still love Narue after realizing she had changed so much. He would have to come to terms that the girl he loved was no more. In her place was a woman who had many of the same traits but to consider them the same would be foolish. He pulled down his mask and sat down next to her on the crates.

"You're right, we can't know now how we'll feel in a year, a month – even an hour. And it's true that because we may not even have a next minute we have to live each moment as if it were our last. But I know what I feel know and to throw it away for what ifs would be a mistake. In this moment sitting here in the dark with you I know that you don't look the same, you don't speak in the same way, and in some ways you don't even think the same. The Narue I knew would have gladly rushed into anything without thinking twice. But you know what? It's exciting. You're exciting. You're the Narue I love and remember as well as someone new. I won't lie, if we were both sure we'd be alive tomorrow this would have probably been a lot slower. So in a way I'm happy because I didn't know how much I was missing you until I saw you. I didn't realize how much happier I am when I see you. For the last six years I've been okay, I've done all right without you but I know from the bottom of my heart that I want to keep feeling what I feel now for you for as long as I can. For once, I don't want to be sensible. I just want to be with you." She didn't respond but he felt her hand seek his and in silence they sat in the dark enjoying being alone together.

A/N: Hope you liked it! See you next time! /Sannikex


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: New chapter!

The camp looked like any other camp of any other mission. Except for the silence. Gaara only saw closed faces and hard eyes in the flickering light from the fire. There was a sense of impending doom hanging over them, spreading like poison gas into every nook and cranny, filling their insides with every breath til doubt was beating darkly in their chests. For Gaara there was no fear, only regret. Regret for all he had and would miss if the mission was not successful. He felt that he'd only just discovered the joy that could be found in living, as if he'd been starkly awake all his life and only now finally allowed to blissfully sleep and dream. All because of an encounter with a research nin from Konoha. He tried to focus on the things he loved about Sayuri without despairing at the possibility of never seeing them again. He loved her eyes, the midnight blue depths that for all their dark colour could shine. He loved the way she got a small crease between her eyebrows when she was concentrating. How she cared for everyone around her. He loved how she loved unconditionally. If he came back from this in one piece he would-

"Gaara?" Naruto startled him from his train of thought and he looked up. "Kakashi-sensei and Narue have been gone a long time now, they were only going to look for some firewood, shouldn't we go see if they're okay?"

"Leave them to it, Naruto, I think they'd want to be alone for now," Sakura interrupted, looking up from staring into the flames of the campfire.

"Unless Kakashi-sensei is into having an audience," Kiba joked.

"Don't be gross! It may be the only chance they get…" Sakura's voice died out.

"To do what?" Naruto asked and everyone fell silent, trying not to look too embarrassed. It had been obvious to all of them what sort of relationship existed between Kakashi and Narue even though they hadn't officially said anything to that effect. "What?" Naruto wailed as always when he felt left out of the loop.

"Come on, Naruto, their scents were all over each other, they had obviously-" Kiba caught a sharp glance from Sakura that clearly told him to be polite "…been _really close_ to each other", he finished lamely.

"Eh? As in…?" Naruto's jaw dropped and before he could exclaim anything further Sakura cut in.

"So? I think it's great. Kakashi-sensei deserves it. He's always alone, maybe now he won't have to be." Sakura said and crossed her arms over her chest. "And maybe now he can stop reading those pervy books," she added under her breath.

"Way to go, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto burst out, characteristically and somehow the happiness in the statement seemed to bring life back to the group around the fire. Everyone laughed, not so much because it was especially funny but in relief.

POV

Arriving at the camp site was a shock. It was the last camp before going for Kabuto at dawn. It might be the last camp they made. The well-known routine of settling and lighting a fire held little comfort when you knew it could be the last time you did it. Narue held little illusion when it came to her own powers. She knew she was probably as strong as Kakashi and Gaara, she also knew it didn't make her invincible. She had an Ultimate defence but it depended on chakra control. It made her hard to beat but it also put her in the position of helping others. She knew she could not _not_ help, just as she was well-aware of the reason her mother had died. She had tried to protect too many and the shield had failed. Narue had done the math, she knew she could probably protect all of them but not for a particularly long time.

"You can't." She turned to see Kakashi, who had dragged her along to get wood. She was fairy certain she and everybody else knew there would be little wood gathering happening on the excursion. All the same he had managed a neat heap and he put it down.

"What?"

"I know what you were thinking. You can't protect us all. You have to give us some credit." Narue didn't think twice on how he knew what she'd been thinking, Kakashi just would. The empathy paired with his intelligence made it possible for him to read people and sheer habit probably made her the easiest of all to understand.

"I do." She furrowed her brow. "Everyone has weak spots. I'm just covering those."

"By which you expose your own weak spot."

"Don't be so logical about this."

"How can I not be? It's the only thing keeping me sane, Narue. My logic tells me you know your limits and that you'll be fine. The rest of me kind of wants to beat you over the head, stuff you in a sack and hide you until it's over." She heard the underlying fear and it shook her to her very core. Kakashi was never afraid. He always found ways to overcome it all. As was their habit she used humour as a distraction.

"Stuff me in a sack? I'd like to see you try." She shifted to get better footing and adopted Guy-sensei's favourite striking pose. Kakashi seemed to grasp the message of distraction and in a flash he attacked. He was amazingly fast but it held little surprise to her. He was the one who'd taught her all he knew, she knew every trick in his taijutsu book. Just as he knew all of hers. In the end it always came down to stubbornness. Who wanted to win more that day. Today Narue felt no need to win so at three hits each she jumped back. She saw the move coming and braced herself, shifted her weight imperceptibly so that when Kakashi felled her she brought him with her. He braced the fall easily and rested his weight on his arms, his face centimetres from hers. Narue reached up and slowly pulled his mask down, gently caressing the strong lines of his face as she went.

"Better?", he asked. His eyes met hers and Narue felt the moment build, higher and stronger until it felt like she was standing on a precipice, narrowly keeping her balance. Below was the unknown, the vast sea of emotions she held for Kakashi. There were still ripples and waves of hurt from years ago, just as there were sunlit spots of incredible memories. But she was so close to falling now, falling beyond the point of no return. Dive into the sea and never resurface. Be gently embraced by the sea until she felt no pain, just floated. But not yet. She didn't trust herself enough to swim. So she pushed through the moment and found her defences, and responded,

"No, still ugly. I'm going to have to close my eyes." If Kakashi had realized the warring emotions within her he didn't comment. She just felt his laugh reverberate through both of them before his lips captured hers.

POV

It had all happened too fast. Not even Shikamaru had seen it. The sophisticated warning system Kabuto had set up. They'd lost the most vital part of their plan, the element of surprise. He had been closer than they'd estimated and they'd almost tripped over him where he had been waiting calmly for their arrival. Gaara clenched his fists, he was ultimately responsible for what had happened. He had known the risks, he'd been too impatient, too confident after the last two successes.

Nightmarishly the same scene kept playing over and over in his mind. Kabuto's eyes getting a sickly satisfaction in them as he spotted an opening and went for Sakura. Kakashi reaching her with impossible speed as he pushed her aside, but with no time to get his guard up the full impact of the blow landing on him. He'd been tossed like a doll, the thud when he hit the ground had had Narue whirling around from the distraction of a reanimated body and catching the horrified look on Sakura's face as she had bent over her teacher, her lips forming the word "no". the sound that escaped Narue barely sounded human, it was the keening of a wounded animal. Then everything had exploded.

The same process as earlier, the air roaring, almost electrically charged and tinged blue as Narue lost all control. He thought he'd faintly heard her call for them to get away in a voice he could barely recognize as hers. Naruto had seen the tell tale signs and had to be restrained by Guy to not rush into the frenzy when he realized Narue's chakra was burning her. Only at double the pace of anything Naruto or Gaara had seen because of the nature chakra reacting on the outside as well as her own burning from within.

He'd caught a final glimpse of shock and terror in Kabuto's eyes, as he stood petrified in the middle of the chaos before Gaara had called on all his sand to cover his unit. Exhausted purely from holding it in place he'd finally felt the storm die out. He'd let it go and shocked they looked around. They were standing in a crater in the middle of the forest, a bare area with trees and rocks tossed around as if they were miniatures instead of the real thing. In the centre they'd spotted two figures and as one they had rushed forward. It looked like a picture. Kakashi's mask had been torn off and his face was ghostly pale lying on the bare ground. Narue lay next to him, her golden hair spread around her, her hand almost touching Kakashi's. She was as pale as he with a rivulet of blood from the corner of her mouth. Sakura had rushed forward, scrambling to find a pulse on Narue. She already knew Kakashi had none. Slowly she sat back again, giving a small shake of her head. Naruto kneeled next to her and Sakura turned her head, hiding her face against his neck as he put an arm around her. Gaara felt the last small glimmer of hope that he'd been mistaken earlier die out and leave his insides dark. One by one they all sat down, disbelief etched over their faces. Kakashi had always been invincible, how could this have happened? And Narue with all her gifts and talent, how could she just have perished? Like a snuffed out flame. Gaara looked around and envied the tears he saw everyone shed unashamedly. He just felt numb. Then he saw Guy get up and join Kakashi's and Narue's hands and shocked he felt the tears come, running fast and hot down his cheeks. Only he and Guy knew the whole story and it broke his heart they hadn't gotten more time.

POV

Narue didn't know where she was. It was dark but she could still see. It was a floating sort of darkness, as if she were under water but could still breathe. All she could do was keep walking. She thought she saw a light ahead and like a moth to a flame she steered her steps towards it. As she got closer she could make out figures around the fire. From afar she recognized her father's profile, etched in sharp relief against the soft light from the fire.

"Dad?" Was he a reanimation?

"Cub," he smiled and got up to meet her. Then the woman next to him stood and Narue felt her heart contract painfully.

"Mum?"

"Narue," she greeted her with a smile and opened her arms wide. Narue couldn't take her eyes off her mother, the face she hadn't seen for so many years, clear as day in front of her. She met her own storm cloud coloured eyes in a face surrounded by jet-black waves. In disbelief she stepped closer and into her mother's embrace. She smelled the same. Memories crashed over her like a wave

"Where are we? Am I dead?"

"Not really. We're in the middle."

"Middle?"

"Between being alive and being dead."

"Oh. Have you come to get me?"

Her dad smiled, "No, we're here to take you back. It's not your time."

Something nagged at the back of her mind. She couldn't remember what it was. Somewhow she just had the feeling she didn't want to go back? She furrowed her brow, trying to remember. Looking into the flames of the fire before her she saw a log snap and sparks shot up. The whirling sparks stirred her memory and with a pain so sharp it brought her to her knees she remembered. Saw in her mind over and over how Kakashi fell, Sakura's face, her lips even in the distance saying "No!".

"He's dead?" Her parents had crouched next to her in concern and heard her whispered disbelief. She'd never see him again? She'd walk through life with no one beside her? For longer than she had wanted to admit Kakashi had been the sun in her universe, what her life had circled around. Where would she go without the gravity of his presence keeping her on track? She'd be hopelessly lost. Memories of him flashed past.

The first time she'd seen him, she'd been five, almost six years old and her parents had taken her to see the jonin exams. She remembered they had talked about him before the match had started and their excitement over the match had transferred to her young mind and she'd stood, on her tip-toes, neck craned and small hands holding on to the rail. She'd been just tall enough to peer through the narrow space between the wall and the handrail in the spectator box. The young man now known as Yamato had been sitting next to her parents and in seeing her struggle to see had produced a little wooden block for her to stand on. She'd turned and smiled in thanks and her father had chuckled.

"She'll turn some heads one day, eh?" He'd elbowed the boy in his side and the boy had blushed but replied,

"I'm sure she will, sir."

"Favours her mother, luckily." Narue had been too young to understand much of what her dad was saying but she instinctively caught the pride in his voice and to resemble her outmost idol, her mum, caused a bubble of happiness to rise inside her. With the happiness still bubbling inside he had entered the arena. She remembered thinking he was a pretty boy and that she liked looking at him. Then the match had started and she'd been fascinated. Growing up in a household of two elite ninjas she had seen her fair share of matches for practice and recognized the skill of the young boy. That day the hero idolization had started.

She'd longed to start at the Academy so she could get better and impress the boy. Kakashi, that was his name and sometimes she liked to say it out loud to herself just to hear it. When her parents had casually asked at the dinner table, who did she want to be her teacher she had stated definitively, Kakashi. Surprised at the categorical answer they'd thought that in time for their daughter to train for jonin Kakashi would be old enough to be her teacher. They'd even had a quiet word with the Third about it. That in five, six years Narue wanted to be trained by Sakumo's prodigy of a son.

Kakashi had been there on the day that had changed her life forever. On the fateful mission that would be their last was announced. Six years old, Narue had waved them off from her aunt's garden. She'd been edgy that whole day and remembered she had driven her aunt ballistic with her behaviour. She had escaped the garden and gone to meet her parents on the way back. Evening had fallen, and night had followed it before she'd seen the mission party return. Of the six who had gone out only three returned. Straining to see the familiar shapes of her parents she had crept closer, first careful, as she knew she wasn't allowed to be out so late, then frantic as she ran towards them as fast as her short legs would carry her.

"Mum? Dad?" She'd called and the exhausted party had turned. They'd all stiffened when they saw her, no one would look her in the eye.

"Mum?" reaching them she'd looked up to see the closed faces of the adults. One of her parents' friends had crouched to get to her level.

"Narue. Your mum and dad they…" As a child of two ninjas you didn't have to explain death, it was ever-present and Narue felt everything inside her crumble. The man who would come to dinner at their house and always brought her sweets that she'd sneakily eat before the food was served and who would wink at her when she couldn't finish her food cradled her and had lifted her. She caught a glimpse of the boy she idolized but didn't feel any of the exhilaration she usually did when she saw him. He'd met her eyes for a moment and she saw the understanding in them. Her control broke then and she'd turned her face to the chest of the man carrying her and her sobs wracked her young body.

A few months later she'd started in the Academy. It comforted her to know she was doing what her parents had before her. That the corridors she walked they'd been in, that the practice shuriken she threw had once been used by them. When the longing got unbearable she went to the memorial stone. She'd follow the lines of their etched names with her finger, lean her forehead against the cool surface of the stone, feel its heavy presence. She could feel them there.

That was where she usually ran into Kakashi. He'd sit close by, often reading or just staring into space. After seeing him a few times she had approached him. He'd been reading and her seven-year-old self had marvelled at the thickness of it. It had to be three hundred pages at least.

"Are your parents here, too?" He'd looked up and she knew he'd recognized her.

"No."

"Then why are you here?" She didn't know if it was the rude inquisitiveness or her age, or just the face they shared the pain of not having your parents around you but he'd answered truthfully.

"I think my dad deserves to be here. So I pretend he is and come here for him. And my best friend is here." That made sense enough for her and she'd sat down.

"What are you reading? It looks awfully big." She thought she'd seen the ghost of a smile under his mask.

"It's about ancient jutsus used by Earth affinity users."

"Can you teach me one? I'm not allowed to train jutsus at the Academy yet but I really want to try it. Throwing shuriken is so boring." He'd given her a slanted look.

"Shuriken practice is important." Her face had fallen comically and he'd added, "See that branch over there, the one with one flower?" He'd taken out a shuriken and thrown it so it lodged itself deep in the branch. "When you can hit that, I'll teach you a jutsu." She'd narrowed her eyes and stood up. The challenge was burning inside her. Narue knew that the distance and small target was fourth year level at least but she took out her blunt edged practice shuriken and determinedly set about practicing. Kakashi had left her to it. It had taken her two weeks to figure out how to control the air around the shuriken's path. Then she'd sought him out. And he'd kept his promise. He'd showed her patiently, over and over, how to do the signs, correcting her small fingers with his own, taken the time to teach a little seven year old. It had given her something to focus on and slowly the pain of her loss had numbed into the dull ache that would stay for her whole life. Exactly a year after her parent's death he'd just sat with her in silence under the tree where they usually practiced. After the first jutsu there had been three more before Kakashi had joined ANBU and had been kept busy and Narue had been moved up a grade as she learnt faster than the others. On the day of her parents' death he wouldn't always be there but there would at least be a note, usually a page from a book with instructions for a jutsu, signed with first letter of his name. Better than anyone he understood the need for distraction.

Five years after the fateful day by the memorial stone she and her two best friends were informed they were the newly formed Team Kakashi. Ren and Jin to train for chunin and Narue for jonin. But with little interest for the ninja profession and lacking motivation to pursue it both her friends had failed at the exam and withdrawn from the Academy rather than to keep training. Then it had been the two of them. From the age of thirteen she had been the sole member of Team Kakashi. The hero idolization from her childhood had turned to admiration and despite the age difference the thirteen year old and the twenty year old had formed an unlikely friendship.

He'd just always been there. In the periphery or right next to her but always on the map of her life. And now he'd be another name on the Memorial Stone. Another loss to overcome. She didn't know when the tears had started running but now she noticed them burning hot on her cold cheeks.

"I can't. I can't go back. You get to be together here, I want to be here with him. Don't make me go back." Her mum kneeled in front of her, lifted her chin and smiled.

"Narue, Kakashi is not here. You saved him." The pain inside was roaring, a burning ball of it was rolling in her stomach, making her want to curl up, protect herself as you would from being kicked. She barely heard her mother over the it all.

"What?"

"He's not here," her mother repeated. Slowly, like ice breaking up in the spring Narue felt her life start again. She made herself breathe slow, in and out, in and out. The relief rushed over her, slaking the fire inside until she felt utterly spent. Gently her mother wiped the tears from her cheeks. Then she kissed her on both cheeks and helped her to her feet.

"We'll take you back now. You still have things to do before joining us." Narue nodded.

"I miss you both so much, every day."

"We miss you too. But we'll see each other again, baby."

"Be careful, Cub. You only get so many chances."

"Yes, dad."

"And remember we couldn't be any prouder of you."

"And we're really happy you and Kakashi sorted things out. He's a good man, Narue."

"I know, mum."

"And so handsome, too. He can give your dad a run for his money." Narue giggled as her dad put on an affronted face.

"We love you, Narue, more than anything."

"I love you too," slowly their smiling faces faded into darkness.

POV

Gaara had to rub his eyes to make sure the tears were not blurring his vision. But no, he had seen it.

"Guy!" He almost pushed the man onto his back when he gripped his shoulder. "Look!" He looked back and from the sharp intake of breath next to him he wasn't the only one who saw it. Kakashi's eyelids were fluttering.

"Sakura! Sakura, check Kakashi again!" Sakura was about to protest, her face blotchy from crying. Then she saw it too and carefully felt for a pulse. She looked up, her red-rimmed eyes wide with astonishment.

"There's a pulse. He's alive. I swear, before, he…"

"Never mind that, heal him for crying out loud!" Naruto blurted out. She scrambled to her knees and ran her hands, enveloped in healing chakra, down his body. Astonished, she looked up,

"I think…I think Narue's chakra shocked his heart into beating again. Like electricity…I don't understand… Someone check on Narue, does she have a pulse?" Hinata leaned over the kunoichi and felt for a pulse. Everyone held their breaths.

"I…I don't know, it's so weak…there could be one." Sakura checked Kakashi's pulse again, it was weak but even so she switched to Narue. She pulled a compact mirror out of her bag and held it close to Narue's lips as she felt for a pulse. Time seemed to slow; she thought she had been waiting forever when she saw it, the faintest clouding on the mirror as well as a slow, impossibly weak and erratic pulse. Quickly Sakura summoned all chakra reserves and got to work.

"She's alive – barely. We need to go. I need help for this." Everyone stood and Kiba and Hinata agreed to have a last look around for any sign of Kabuto. No one really believed he could have survived the impact that had taken all of Gaara's Ultimate Defence to stave off. Stretchers were conjured and carefully the two ninjas were transferred to them before, with a final nod to Kiba and Hinata, they all took off, leaving a cloud of dust in the crater.

A/N2: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, I'm really glad you like this story! /Sannikex


	12. Chapter 12

Sayuri spun around when Gaara entered the tent.

"How did it go?" She looked closer and rushed forward, "What happened, what's wrong?" Gaara sunk down on a chair and Sayuri kneeled down in front of it, searchingly scrutinizing his face. Gaara took her hand in his.

"We didn't plan properly, underestimated Kabuto. He knew we were coming and we walked right into a trap. Kakashi was taken down and Narue just…lost it. I got everyone under cover. When we came out it…everything was destroyed. I've never seen such force. Kabuto is probably dead but we can't find enough of him to make sure." He rubbed his hands over his face. "But somehow it seems like Narue's chakra started Kakashi's heart again. There was a crater the size of a village, she'd ground rocks to sand, uprooted trees centuries old. But Kakashi was alive again, not a scratch on him from the explosion or the debris. We don't really understand…"

"And Narue, what happened to her?"

"She's in critical condition, we don't know if she'll live." Sayuri stood.

"I want to go see her."

"They're operating on her, she's burned herself from the inside, they won't be done for hours."

"She's done nothing but put her life on the line in my plans since she got here, I'm going to go and wait." Gaara smiled.

"Of course. I'm coming too." He'd known Sayuri's reaction before he'd entered the tent. It was one of the reasons he loved her. That undivided loyalty. He took her hand and together they went to the medical tent. There they found Naruto, Shikamaru, Temari and Guy huddled around Kakashi's bed.

POV

Sayuri left the others at Kakashi's bedside where they were all staring into space. The kind of silence all nijas knew hovered in the room. The silence of death. It was always imminent in their line of work and there wasn't a single one of them who had not lost someone close. In the waiting, the heavy breathless silence was all there could be. There was no comfort to offer. Only the reality of living or dying. So Sayuri went off to offer her basic medical skills to the team and was pulled in and put to work.

Hurriedly she washed her hands and donned the scrubs before being ushered into the operating room. Narue, clad only in her underwear for easier and immediate chakra reach lay on the operating table. There was no mark on her; in fact she looked even more like the sleeping fairy tale princess Sayuri had imagined her as earlier. Sakura, Shizune and Tsunade were all working on her side by side. Sakura looked up when she came in.

"Sayuri. Good, you can help. If you come and feel to understand what needs to be done, then you can replace one of the other med-nins." She nodded towards a group of people Sayuri hadn't even noticed. The med-nins were sitting cross-legged on the floor, gathering chakra for the operation so the three kunoichi would have as much as they needed for the procedure. Sayuri went over and held her hands over Narue, let them wander and winced. Was there nothing whole in her entire body? It was like Gaara had said, she had burned herself from the inside, there was bleeding, ruptured chakra vessels, damaged organs, even hollowed out bones. With a shudder Sayuri withdrew and nodded, she'd understood the extent of the injuries. She went over to the med nins on the floor and one rose, staggering from exhaustion. She took his place and settled in for long, hard work.

POV

The first sense to return to him was his hearing. He heard the shuffle of feet, hushed voices, the wind in the tent fabric. Then his sense of smell. Disinfectant, blood, sweat and stale clothes. The medical tent. Was he hurt? Slowly he took inventory. His head was pounding and his right arm felt unusually stiff. Other than that he felt okay, just tired. So, so tired. What had happened? He fought unconsciousness, tried to remember. He heard shuffling steps, then a deep, raspy voice.

"Sayuri. How is she?" Gaara´s voice.

"Still critical. They've been operating for hours. I don't know how much longer they can keep it up. It's a miracle she's still alive. There's nothing undamaged inside her." Sayuri's voice replied. Who was hurt?

"Come rest. You've done all you can for Narue." Narue? His eyes flew open as the memories came whirling back into his head. Narue in the dark tent, her little warm hand in his, Narue naked, with her golden hair spread around her on the forest floor looking like a wood nymph, Narue winking at him as they went into battle. Kabuto…had he hurt Narue? He sat up and looked around. He met the surprised eyes of Gaara, Sayuri, Shikamaru, Temari, Naruto and Guy.

"Kakashi! You made it again, you slippery devil!" Guy grinned at him.

"Narue?" He managed, his voice croaky. They all looked away and a cold hand squeezed his heart. "Where is she?" He threw the covers off and struggled to get out of bed. Guy held him in place as Sayuri began

"I don't think-"

"-She's in surgery. She's badly hurt." Guy interrupted her.

"Kabuto?" Kakashi asked.  
"No, she…she took him down. It seems…." Guy struggled for words. "She lost control when you went down and…" He swallowed, "and it destroyed Kabuto and it somehow started your heart again but she…she tore her own insides to pieces in the process. She's been in surgery for hours."

"I want to see her." Whatever reply he would have received was interrupted by a medical ninja bursting in.

"Anyone able to mould chakra is ordered by Tsunade-sama to come to the surgery."

As one the people around his bed stood and in the confusion that followed Kakashi managed to get up and get out of the room unnoticed. Luckily there had been no time for anyone to put him in a hospital gown so he looked the same as any other ninja rushing around. All able ninjas in the medical tent had been summoned and he saw men on crutches, men with hastily bandaged wounds among them he hardly stood out, with his arm in a cast. He'd realized when he got out of bed the stiffness came from his right arm enveloped in a cast. He guessed no one had had the time to heal it with chakra and so it had just been bandaged to be dealt with later. He sneaked in behind a group of ninjas and saw her. She was lying under a sheet pulled up to her chin. She was pale and he didn't like the slackness of her features. His heart felt like a stone in his chest, heavy and cold.

"We need more chakra, we're losing her," Shizune called.

"No." Tsunade interrupted. She stood back and surprised Sakur and Shizune stopped what they were doing.

"She can't handle more than we're giving her. She has no vessels to channel it. It's all her now. There's nothing more we can do", Tsunade said, grim faced, every year suddenly etched on her face. He walked closer and everyone seemed to melt away in front of him. He reached her, found her hand under the covers. It was cold.

"Narue." He kneeled next to the table. Shizune made a move to pull him away but Sakura stopped her with a shake of her head. The three medical kunochi stepped back. He knew what it meant. It meant he was supposed to say goodbye. His eyes felt hot and he couldn't keep his voice steady.

"Narue, you have to listen to me now. I'm not going to say goodbye. You're too young for this, you see. We have too much to do together first. You're going to come back to Konoha with me." Vaguely he heard that the beeping from one of the machines was getting louder. Tsunade had come forward again and wide-eyed she held a hand over Narue's heart, the chakra pulsing around it.

"Go on", she urged him.

"We have to do all the thing you wanted to do first. Do you remember when you told me you wanted to go to the Land of Waterfalls and see the 27 Falls? We'll do that. We'll go and we'll swim. And climb the Grey Mountain. You wanted to see the sun rise from behind it from the top. We said we'd try everything on the menu from Ichiraku ramen, even the things we don't like." The beeping was definitely stronger now and Tsunade withdrew her hand,

"She's healing herself from the inside. I don't know how, but she's doing it." Encouraged Kakashi continued,

"We'll go to the movies again and you'll pretend you're not scared during horror movies and I'll pretend I can't see you closing your eyes during the scary bits. You'll say no to popcorn and then I have to order a large cause we both know you'll eat half of it. We'll train in that clearing with the stream again and I'll be there when you reach 800 jutsus. I'll buy you an ice cream when you do. You're too good now to get one for every jutsu you perfect." Suddenly he felt Narue's hand squeeze his and she drew a deep breath. Her lids fluttered and her eyes met his.

"I'm not scared of horror movies, you idiot, I was always trying to get you to hold my hand." Then her head fell back and panicked he looked up but Tsunade just smiled.

"She's just resting now. The danger has passed. She'll live." Cheer broke out in the crowded room and more than one person wiped their eyes.

POV

The rumor of Narue taking out Kabuto and almost dying in the process spread through the camp like wildfire and the day she was able to leave the medical tent a large crowd had gathered outside to greet her. Supported by Kakashi, more because he insisted then actual need, she had after a tremendous recovery of just three days stopped in shock as the crowd cheered. She blinked in surprise. Tsunade came forward.

"Narue, you've been away long enough. I've spoken to the Mizukage and you're coming back to Konoha." Past forgotten Naure threw her arms around Tsunade.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" Tsuande hugged her back.

"No, thank you, Narue. We all owe you a great favor. In the light of your recent injuries the leaders have agreed you have given enough to the war effort and you're free to go home if you wish." She looked to Kakashi and smiled. Home. Just the word made her insides warm.

"No. There's more to do. I will go home to Konoha, but not til this war is over."

Epilogue

Three Years Later

Narue held up a hand to stop her unit. They'd reached the outskirts of Konoha and having completed the mission she could let them all go free. She still had to report to the Hokage but there was no reason they all had to come along.

"Nice job, everyone. You're free to go home." With a swooshing sound they all disappeared. Feeling content with the day's work, the fine evening weather and life in general she opted for walking down to the village. As she found the main road and started down it she suddenly heard a familiar little voice.

"Mummy! Mummy!" She turned and her heart bloomed as she saw her three-year-old daughter come running as fast as her little legs could carry her.

"Hi, my baby!" She crouched down to get to her daughter's level. In a flash Midori had thrown herself into her open arms. Hugging her closer and breathing in the scent of her, Narue thanked the fates for the accident that had turned out to be the biggest blessing of her life.

"Where's your dad?" She rose, Midori comfortably seated on her hip. She was a pretty child, with the silver hair of her father but the spitting image of Narue herself.

"He got lost. We were playing hide and seek." Narue smiled,

"Lost, is he? And it wasn't you who got lost?"

"No, I knew where I was the whole time." Narue shook her head. Her daughter was too bold for her own good. Kakashi suddenly appeared, a wrinkle of worry smoothing itself out as he spotted his daughter. Sharing Narue's genes Midori was always surrounded by a powerful protection but her dad preferred to do the protecting himself.

Her heart tripped in her chest. He was still so beautiful, even after seeing him every day for the last three years her heart still skipped a beat sometimes. And he was all hers. He tugged down his mask and smiled at her, the way he always did and Narue was truly home. The kiss was just a bonus. The tender reunion only lasted a few seconds before Midori demanded to be put down. Narue set her down and Kakashi's arm snaked around her waist.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too. In fact so much that I'll…" his voice lowered to a whisper as their daughter was still within hearing and Narue couldn't help the blush that rose in her cheeks.

"That sounds like a great welcome home." Midori returned from poking at a fat frog on the side of the road.

"Mummy, I decided what I want for my birthday." Her little face serious to communicate the weight of the situation Midori looked up, "I want a little brother. Noriko has one and I want one too." Narue smiled.

"What a coincidence, that's what I want for my birthday too. We'll have to ask your dad for one. What do you say?" She met Kakashi's eyes and reveled in the love she found there. In a quick move he lifted her up and spun her around.

"I say, anything my girls want."

A/N: I have really loved writing this story. It's outdated already as the series has progressed but despite that I hope you have enjoyed reading it. Thank you all for your kind reviews and general cheering on! Sannikex


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